Kevin Durant Rallies Team to Step Up Defensively After Loss Against Hawks

It looks like everybody jumped the gun after watching the Brooklyn Nets starting their season with two blowout wins. Looking at Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving lead Brooklyn, they seemed unstoppable. However, after losing to the Atlanta Hawks 114-96, it has become clear that they need more time to build and maintain the chemistry we saw a glimpse of in the start.

In fact, even Durant knows what the Nets need to do to become the contenders everyone is hoping that they will be.

What went down against the Atlanta Hawks?

Their first face-off with the Hawks was way different from their second. After being down 16 points, Brooklyn pulled off a 145-141 win against Atlanta.

This was all thanks to Irving and Durant who put up stellar baskets in the fourth quarter of the game. Although, the magic was missing two days later when they met the Hawks once again.

On Friday, the Hawks moved their lead to 20, and despite having Caris LeVert, Irving, and Durant down the stretch, The Nets could not generate offense consistently. And six players from Atlanta scored in double digits. The game rolled into the Hawks’ favor as soon as Durant and Irving were benched.

Kevin Durant on what the Nets need to work on

First of all, the Nets had a hard time fixing their long-range shooting problems. They attempted 37 3-pointers and only 18.9% of them were successful. It’s not easy to survive when so many attempts have been taken but the success rate is so low.

The other big hole in their game was their defense. This was one of those games in which the Nets must have realized that they can’t just rely on DeAndre Jordan. This shows how much more the Nets need to work on before they can be put on such a high pedestal as everyone did before.

As per Travonne Edwards, Kevin Durant knows what the team needs to focus on. “It’s about being loose and going out there and continuing to work every day.” 

“Nets can’t rely on just making shots and need to step up defensively,” he also wrote.

Will the Nets waste more time in figuring out their chemistry? Or is this just a minor bump on their way to becoming one of the title contenders, as predicted?