Brooklyn Nets ended their pre-season campaign with a 112-102 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kyrie Irving (26) and Kevin Durant (20) led the Nets to their second pre-season win against the Wolves. Ben Simmons, however, struggled at the Target Center with just 2 points in 13 minutes. However, it was Karl-Anthony Towns who was trending on social media after the game. A fan shared a sequence of play from the Wolves-Nets game, where Towns seemingly looked lost while defending the perimeter.
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Karl-Anthony Towns started the game against the Nets and scored 15 points in 33 mins. He also bagged 9 rebounds and 4 assists. This was also the game in which the Wolves launched their lethal duo of Towns and Rudy Gobert. Gobert scored 16 points in 30 mins.
While the Minnesota Timberwolves were riding through the pre-season 4-0, this loss to the Nets was perhaps a big reminder that there’s a lot of work still to be done.
KAT defending on the perimeter has disaster potential imo pic.twitter.com/CHiXhfXTBQ
— O (@owlow_) October 15, 2022
The clip went viral on Twitter and drew reactions from NBA fans. This was not something fans expected to be among the headlines ahead of the start of the regular season.
NBA Twitter trolls Karl-Anthony Towns for poor defending in a play sequence vs the Nets
The video clip of Towns is making rounds on Twitter and has crossed more than 300k views.
Here are some of the reactions from NBA Twitter:
They got that boy doing laps lmaooo https://t.co/OFVYc4p1Gd
— Tjigga⚜️ (@bigtgamesisbac1) October 15, 2022
Lost deer
— Ahmad Geter (@ArawwG) October 15, 2022
Golden State, LAL, Denver, Dallas, and Memphis are gonna tear them apart.
— Joshua (@The_RoyalJoshua) October 15, 2022
Steph & Klay when they see Kat guarding the perimeter https://t.co/UpGGiXRczG pic.twitter.com/i7ZlfQMDfW
— NBA J🏀 (@JanNJuice_) October 16, 2022
He not guarding nobody out there lol https://t.co/nstwEz23C0
— 🏁odotski.sol🐍👼🏾 (@ODOTG) October 15, 2022
360 on defense was crazy https://t.co/9aw6n2lmx4
— ColdAsIce 🥶 (@_c0ldAsIce_) October 15, 2022
Bbq chicken if Karl has to guard perimeter https://t.co/wXVDF9DmHt
— 💙💙 (@AyyMarkk) October 15, 2022
12 year olds have better defensive awareness https://t.co/fA8NBcmp5H
— Bam Adebayo Enjoyer🐳 (@bucket_gucci) October 15, 2022
Nah KAT you really can’t guard the perimeter https://t.co/JNBdlD4eDZ
— Ramon 🇵🇷⚡️ (@ramon_edits_) October 15, 2022
The Wolves have got Towns and Gobert at their disposal this season. However, the two couldn’t contribute much in the pre-season as Towns missed the first week due to an infection while Rudy Gobert was playing the EuroBasket. Now they have little time to work on their rhythm as they start their regular season on Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder at home.
Brooklyn Nets GM feels Kevin Durant will not put another trade request
Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets finished their pre-season 2-2 with an emphatic win over the Wolves. It is undoubtedly an important victory against a strong rival that featured both Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. Nets GM Sean Marks, whom Kevin Durant tried to get fired in the off-season, is not concerned about another trade request from the ‘Slim Reaper’.
“Personally I don’t think [another trade request] is something we should be concerned about now. It’s about how we manage this on a daily, minute-by-minute basis,” Marks said.
He continued: “Do we communicate in practice? Kevin doesn’t want to be surprised, either; and neither do we. He knows there’s going to be ups and downs. But how do we combat that? Whether it’s that anxiety or the ups and downs, as a collective unit how we manage those? Hopefully there won’t be surprises on the KD front, our front, any of it.”
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The Brooklyn Nets have been in the headlines the whole summer. However, as Marks said, they have to get past the off-season and work towards bringing a championship to Brooklyn.
WATCH THIS STORY: How Underrated Investor Kevin Durant Made Millions Off the NBA Court
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Kevin Durant and co. have a strong schedule coming their way as the Nets play 12 times on the road from the first 20 games. This is the most in the Eastern Conference and second-most in the whole league.
Can Durant, Simmons, and Irving fire the Nets to their first NBA championship this season? Let us know in the comment section below.