SAN ANTONIO — Throughout their short time without Kevin Durant, the Nets have made one thing clear as a team — this year’s stint without their franchise star won’t compare to a year ago.
Kyrie Irving first referenced it after Sunday’s loss to Oklahoma City.
“I’m consistently in the lineup: that helps,” Irving said. “We also don’t have halfway-in anyone in the locker room and there’s a primary focus on the big picture here.”
After Tuesday’s loss to the Spurs, it was Nic Claxton’s turn.
“Last year it was … it was kind of a toxic environment,” Claxton said. “We didn’t know if everybody wanted to be here at the time. This year there’s no divide between everybody that’s out there. We’re going to figure it out … we just got to figure out how to play with each other without having KD, Kyrie out there on the court. It’s different lineups but we’ll figure it out.”
Irving’s comments come with a touch of irony given his part-time status during Durant’s MCL sprain last season, which cost him 21 games. The Nets went 5-16 without him. Irving also wasn’t in the lineup Tuesday, nursing right calf soreness, but head coach Jacque Vaughn is hopeful he’ll play Thursday in Phoenix.
Yet Claxton’s words were the latest attempt at making James Harden a rallying cry for the Nets. So far, the Nets have yet to win since Durant was ruled out with a sprained MCL a week ago.
The Spurs’ Keldon Johnson drives against the Nets’ TJ Warren on Tuesday in San Antonio. (Darren Abate/Associated Press)
Ben Simmons’ first triple-double as a Net wasn’t enough as the Nets shot just 3-for-23 from 3 in their second straight game against non-playoff teams after Thursday’s loss to Boston. Vaughn played every active player against the Spurs and got mixed results from a veteran group going against a young San Antonio team that’s far from contending.
“You just look at the first and third quarter scoring, just not able to put points on the board; had some good shots along the way, didn’t make them,” Vaughn said. “And so part of basketball. But I think the things that we can take care of are the turnovers and the rebounding. And that’s just a matter of keeping things simple for turnovers wise, and hitting somebody and keeping them off the boards.”
The Nets quickly found themselves down 14 but managed to tie it by halftime at 51 thanks to a 17-5 run from TJ Warren and Edmond Sumner. Warren finished with 19 points while Sumner added 13. But for all of Simmons’ assists (11) and rebounds (10) perhaps his most crucial stat of the night was his fouls. With 7:47 left in the third quarter and the game tied at 58, Simmons picked up his fourth foul. The Spurs immediately rattled off a 6-0 run with the 6-10 point guard on the bench. The Nets never sniffed the lead again.
“I think the past few games it’s kind of been a similar story where the teams went on a run and we weren’t able to fight back,” Claxton said. “And just got to do a better job of weathering the storm, shaking back from that. It’s frustrating, losing these games, but I think we just got to stick together and figure it out. It’s not the end of the world.”
When Brooklyn was 12-1 in December with a healthy roster, the Nets had the league’s top offense and a top-10 defense. In their first three games without their franchise player, the Nets offense ranks last in the league with a rating of 99, while the defense has been a hair off the top spot.
Durant is irreplaceable as a player, but the roster is good enough to avoid a top to bottom dropoff. Vaughn has pushed for the Nets to shoot more 3s with his stars off the court but got just 24 shots in San Antonio, most of which were missed open looks. Joe Harris was scoreless in 17 minutes and took just three shots.
Defensively, the Nets held the Spurs to 38 percent shooting and just 21 percent from 3, not much better than their own woes from deep. Irving’s absence was missed since the Spurs had an alpha dog on the night the Nets didn’t. Keldon Johnson scored a career-high 36 points to lead his team.
Vaughn has been cautious with Warren’s minutes all season to protect him for the playoffs and played him just 24 minutes despite his 7-for-13 shooting. Warren, who has battled foot injuries the past two years, might not play in Friday’s back-to-back out of precaution, which creates a domino effect that makes it difficult to balance.
“I think we ran him in big stretches,” Vaughn said of Warren. “I told the guys going into the game that we were going to change the rotations a little bit. Wasn’t going to run guys as long. Five- or six-minute stints. He had a long run to get us some points on the board. I think we continue to give guys minutes across the board. Because what happens is someone else’s minutes get shaved. So you look at Yuta’s minutes. He’s not hitting there. So the next thing you know you’re plugging holes from all sides.”
Brooklyn now turns its attention to Phoenix; 12th in the Western Conference standings and without their own stars in Chris Paul and Devin Booker, which could give the Nets another chance to win. Then they face Utah, Golden State and Philadelphia — three playoff teams with their key players healthy.
A year ago, Vaughn was an assistant under Steve Nash when the team dropped 11 straight games without Durant. The 6-10 forward later said the stretch made him lose faith in the organization. It factored into his trade request as he found the team’s inability to compete without him glaring. A year later in the same situation, the Nets haven’t given Durant much reason to think differently.
“No excuses,” Vaughn said. “That’s for me and I’m gonna continue to preach that to the group. Not looking for any excuses. That’s just who we are. We get a chance to play the game, you get a chance to compete. We had plenty enough bodies to get the job done today, we ran through everybody, so everybody got a chance to be a part of it and be a part of the winning and be a part of the losing. And so I’m gonna continue to stress the group, I’m not gonna give them excuses. I don’t care about last year. I care about the now. Today was the most important game. Now I’m trying to reload and be ready for Phoenix. But I’m not gonna give them a chance to have excuses.”
The Nets continue to say that this stretch without Durant will end differently than last year’s. So far they haven’t started without him.
(Top photo of Ben Simmons of the Nets driving against the Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan: Darren Abate / Associated Press)
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