The actual strategy to save Kevin Durant’s legs for the tip of the season is to finish his night time early in opposition to lesser opponents.
As evidenced by the Nets’ meltdown of their 122-116 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, that’s a lot simpler mentioned than carried out.
The Nets had been on tempo to provide Durant a half-day. They led by 23 within the second quarter, largely attributable to Seth Curry’s scorching capturing in opposition to his hometown staff and Kyrie Irving’s aggressive scoring in opposition to Terry Rozier, his understudy on the Boston Celtics who now performs a key position in Charlotte.
The Nets blew the Hornets out of the water within the first half. The sport was purported to be over.
And then they took their foot off the fuel. They left Durant on the bench far too lengthy, then misplaced these minutes whereas he watched from the sidelines. This is the opposite facet of the Durant workload conundrum: Yes he leads the NBA in minutes; sure, he’s 34 years outdated in his fifteenth NBA season; sure, he’s 4 seasons faraway from a devastating ruptured Achilles; and sure, the Nets wish to be sure he’s wholesome and contemporary for the playoffs.
But when he doesn’t play, the Nets wrestle.
The Hornets turned Brooklyn’s 23-point lead right into a one-point sport till Durant checked again in halfway via the fourth quarter. After scoring 20 via the primary three durations, he scored 9 extra down the stretch to safe the victory, giving the Nets their eighth win of their final 11 video games.
For the primary half of the night time, the sport plan labored. The Nets went deep into their rotation — and so they took care of enterprise in opposition to a non-playoff opponent.
Until they took their foot off the fuel.
While the Hornets had been with out franchise cornerstone LaMelo Ball (ankle) and oft-injured star Gordon Hayward (shoulder), the Nets are developing on a completely wholesome 10-man rotation. Ben Simmons (calf pressure) and Yuta Watanabe (hamstring pressure) are the one key rotation gamers who missed Wednesday’s sport.
Early on, it was an excessive amount of for the Hornets to deal with. Even with out Simmons and Watanabe, the Nets flexed the depth they hope can carry them — each in video games Durant sits out and minutes he watches from the bench.
Durant did his harm early. On one possession, he crossed over Charlotte’s Kelly Oubre Jr. and drove to the the rim together with his proper hand earlier than ending with an emphatic two-handed stuff.
And on different possessions, he did nothing in any respect. His teammates picked up the place he left off.
Three Nets scored 20 or extra, with Curry coming off the bench to hold 20 factors on his hometown staff. Irving scored a game-high 33 factors. Even although all 5 Hornets’ starters scored in double figures, Charlotte obtained near nothing from its bench. Curry outscored the Hornets’ reserves on his personal.
Not to say the atrocious Hornets’ protection let Nets’ gamers stroll to the rim uncontested recurrently.
The Nets, although, want to seek out methods to play first half basketball within the second half. It’s the distinction between Durant taking part in his common of 37 minutes a sport and taking part in 25.
Those minutes will add up on the finish of the season. When the playoffs come round, he’ll be on the courtroom a minimal of 40 minutes an evening.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com