NEW ORLEANS — The Nets will do something Friday they haven’t had to in a month: Pick themselves up after a defeat.
After seeing the league’s longest winning streak in over a year snapped Wednesday in Chicago at a dozen straight, now Brooklyn faces the Pelicans trying to avoid a losing skid.
“We’re going to take this one on the chin and get ready for the rest of the games going forward,” Kyrie Irving said.
“We’ll take it. That’s part of basketball,” added coach Jacque Vaughn. “That’s what I told the group. That’s the great thing about this thing: We’ve shown how to respond after a win, and we just kept winning. Now how do we respond after a loss?
“That’s why you don’t get too high or too low after this thing and get ready to play the next game.”
The next game comes against a Pelicans team that just lost star big man Zion Williamson, averaging 26 points and seven rebounds. That took some star power out of a potential Kevin Durant-Williamson clash, but New Orleans is 7-2 without their hamstrung stud, including their past four without him.
The Nets opened the season against New Orleans, getting bullied, 130-108, at Barclays Center under then-coach Steve Nash. They were out-rebounded 61-39 — and 21-9 on the offensive glass — in their own building. Now approaching the midway point of the season, what can they do in the rematch on the road? And after having their winning streak snapped?
“I did say you’ve shown how to win and how to continue to win, I didn’t say anything about the month of December or stringing wins together,” Vaughn said. “We’ve never mentioned anything about the streak along the way.” Vaughn said. “What’s important is that day’s game. I’m looking forward to that piece of our guys learning a lesson from this game and then moving on and responding on Friday.”
The Nets — who’d been the second-best 3-point shooting team in the NBA — were just 12-of-37 from deep in Chicago. Kevin Durant and Seth Curry had been 11-of-17, while the rest of the roster was 1-for-20. In his first game back from a non-COVID illness, Royce O’Neale was 0-for-8, and Irving was 1-for-8.
TJ Warren (left rib contusion) is questionable for the Nets after being forced to leave Wednesday’s loss late in the fourth quarter. David Duke Jr., Kessler Edwards, Day’Ron Sharpe and rookie two-way Alondes Williams are out on G-League assignment.
Williamson (right hamstring strain), Brandon Ingram (left big toe contusion) and EJ Liddell (right ACL) are out for New Orleans. Larry Nance Jr. (right shoulder soreness) and Willy Hernangomez (left ankle sprain) are both questionable.
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