AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
The Brooklyn Nets are going to need Kevin Durant to compete with the Boston Celtics reach playoff time.
Boston came into Barclays Heart on Thursday and left with a 109-98 victory within the ability postseason preview. While the Nets didn’t secure Durant on legend of a knee hurt, Jaylen Brown modified into sidelined on the opposite aspect with an adductor stress.
Brooklyn fell to 27-14 on the promoting campaign and has now misplaced two of its last four following a 12-sport winning trip.
The Nets are going to need scoring to set up for the absence of Durant, they every so often’d five avid gamers in double figures, including Kyrie Irving (24 components) and T.J. Warren (20 components). On the opposite hand, none of that scoring came from Ben Simmons, who didn’t notch a single point whereas going 0-of-3 from the sphere.
To his credit, he dished out 13 assists and grabbed nine rebounds in a odd efficiency that drew some praise but mostly criticism:
Bleacher File @BleacherReport
Ben Simmons tonight:
13 AST
9 REB
0 PTS (0/3 FG) pic.twitter.com/eCGfTDNvHM
Russillo @ryenarussillo
Attention-grabbing Simmons sport. He modified into gigantic in transition. Nets +10 with him, -13 w/o him on floor in first half.
2nd half modified into subbed out at 7: 00min of 4th. Never came serve in.
Slash Friedell @NickFriedell
Simmons drew some boos from the Barclays crowd after no longer going up for that shot blueprint the rim. He comes graceful serve down the floor and misses one other behold.
The Nets will now not be winning many video games for the duration of this stretch when Simmons is not the least bit times giving them any scoring.
Jac Manuell @JacManuell
Ben Simmons in opposition to Boston pic.twitter.com/M31Ljn1SHt
Tremain @YourBoyTre
Ben Simmons does practice layup drills?
Connor Bigelow 🇯🇵 @NOTORiousBIGs21
Ben Simmons is allergic to lay u.s.a.it be hilarious 😂😂😂😂 idk how usually he is had chances to no longer decrease than go into somebody and form contact to both procure the lay or go to the road
. @IcySimmons
For every apt thing Ben Simmons does there may possibly be two detrimental things to accomplice with it man right here’s no longer a winning participant
Gboye @mcgboye
Ben Simmons doing fairly a few amazing play making and defending but he is no longer giving them any scoring and that is exhibiting. With out KD, they need him to rating 10+ every night alongside the entire other stuff.
Jamestown @jamestown_502
Ben Simmons has to rating with KD out.
No ducking, its required.
Defense, passing and rebounding is gigantic…but he has to procure buckets.
No scheme around it.
Quanathan Kuminga @iAmQuanJay
Ben simmons should be averaging no longer decrease than 15 when kd is out. This no longer gonna minimize it
Chris Herring @Herring_NBA
Simmons is so peculiar, man. Or no longer it is if truth be told cold.
NBA @NBA
Ben Simmons DISHING early.
The outlet to Yuta followed by the hit-ahead to Harris… he is got 7 assists after 1Q on TNT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/N1Q5KfgQT0
This may possibly take a group effort for Brooklyn to outlive with out Durant, in particular in opposition to elite teams, and it got appropriate that for prolonged stretches in Thursday’s contest.
Warren and Seth Curry equipped a activate the bench, Joe Harris came upon his stroke from deep, and Nic Claxton safe the rim on the defensive aspect. It modified into removed from appropriate everyone standing around and hoping Irving would go to work with out Durant, and it set the Nets in location to presumably to find down the stretch.
On the opposite hand, it grew to become extra subtle to compete because the sport stepped forward with the Celtics no longer having to disaster about Simmons as a scorer. That modified into never clearer than within the 2d half when he had a layup but as a alternative handed it to Claxton in a play that ended up with a turnover.
No person is asking Simmons to rating 20 components an night, but he’ll want to possess bigger than zero whereas Durant is out with his hurt.
He’ll procure one other likelihood to to find appropriate that Sunday when the Nets host the Oklahoma Metropolis Assert.
