Durant is no longer the best basketball player in the NBA?

The first participant in the NBA in the quarter final stage was determined

In the NBA, the first participant in the quarterfinal stage of the playoffs was determined.It was “Boston”, which in the first round did not suffer a single defeat from “Brooklyn” and closed the series in four matches. Udoki’s team is a real discovery of this basketball season. But from the “Nets” such a failure, it seems, no one expected.

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Overall, Steve Nash’s squad has had a difficult season. Kyrie Irving’s suspension, James Harden’s departure, injuries to Joe Harris and Kevin Durant… All in all, the team suffered, but still managed to secure seventh place in the East.

Brooklyn beat Cleveland in the play-in. They beat Cleveland quite convincingly, holding a double-digit lead for most of the game. But Cleveland is not a top team in the NBA. In the playoffs, however, the Nets had serious problems.

Not to say that Brooklyn was completely bad. Irving also had 39 points in the first game, and Durant had the same number in the last. Boston won all 4 meetings in the clutch.

In addition, the Nets became the first team in NBA history to be eliminated from the playoffs with an average conversion of 50% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. Basically, we tried our best. In addition, the Nets became the first team in NBA history to fall out of the playoffs with a 50% efficiency from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. Against Jason Tatum and the reinforced concrete protection of the Celtics, alas, there was no reception.

Basically ,they tried their best. But against Jason Tatum and the Celtics’ ironclad defense, alas, they had no answer.

Who has suffered the most from the defensive actions of the Celts is Kevin Durant. He didn’t look like himself. In four games, the player made only 32 of 83 shots (38%) from the field and made 21 losses, 10 of which were under the tutelage of Tatum.

“Sometimes they put two, three players against me when I’m without the ball. They try to disrupt my routine – Al Horford throws his player to tackle me. I get tackled by two or three players wherever I go.”

Even LeBron James’ most famous hater, Skip Bayless, who for so long called KD the strongest player in the modern NBA, changed his mind after the failure of the Nets.

“Until Kevin Durant has the opportunity to correct this mistake, I can no longer claim that he is the best player on the planet.”

For the first time since 2010, Kevin Durant’s team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Then KD played in his debut playoffs for Oklahoma with Russell Westbrook, with whom, by the way, he won the decisive stage of the season more often than with Irving (57.3% of wins against 46.2%).

Irving, with all respect, would not have been able to single-handedly pull the team into the second round. At least not against Boston. Not against Boston, anyway. The Nets have no one else to rely on: Seth Curry, Bruce Brown and Nick Claxton are not currently performers of the appropriate level. And Ben Simmons, who was so hoped for in the fourth match in Brooklyn, is a completely different story.

The point guard’s introduction in the new club was supposed to take place just in the fourth decisive meeting with Boston. This season, he didn’t play a single game – neither for Philadelphia, nor for Brooklyn. By this time, he was being prepared – the team discussed in detail with the player the plan for his return to the site. And Simmons sort of agreed with that plan. For 10 days he actively trained and did not experience any pain. But the day before the decisive game, the back pain returned, and Ben’s debut was again postponed indefinitely.

The team was “surprised and disappointed” by this decision. A barrage of criticism predictably fell upon the player from the outside. Shaquille O’Neal, Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, Steven A Smith spoke negatively about him … And only Steve Nash continued to defend the long-suffering Simmons.

“Ben was sure there is a psychological aspect to what he is going through. But what stage he is at – I can’t talk about that. We want to help if he needs help in any aspect of his life or game. Psychological component is an integral part of all of it. As far as the organisation is concerned, we are trying very hard to support Ben in every way we can to help him improve his physical condition and get back on the court. “

In the season when Simmons did not play a single game, he was entitled to $ 33 million, at the same time. Philadelphia tried to do something and withheld almost $ 20 million from his salary for all the missed sessions, as well as 50 regular season matches. Simmons and his powerful agent, Rich Paul, in April,filed a claim for a full refund of this amount. And with this he gets help from the union of players in the NBA.

Steve Nash and the management , who, despite the collapse in the first round of the playoffs, are not going to be fired, will have to deal with it. Yes, so far Nash hasn’t brought any good ideas to the Brooklyn game. But what else to expect from a specialist who has just started his career, and even has to work with Durant and Irving? Dealing with them is no easy task. And Nash could not be able to deal with it. But if KD respects him, he is guaranteed a place in the team.

Kyrie Irving isn’t far behind in this situation. This season, he should earn $ 35 million, although due to the refusal to vaccinate, he was able to play only 29 games in the season and four more in the playoffs. $1 million per game? Not bad. It isn’t clear what to expect from Kyrie next season, at the same time. He has a n option in his player contract that allows him to either earn $36.7 million or extend his contract for even more. $44.1 million will be for Kevin Durant’s salary, another $35.4 million will go to Ben Simmons. This season has shown that this isn’t enough for success in the playoffs. And this is the main problem of the Nets.

Basically this season, Brooklyn is a complete disappointment. Last summer season, the Nets were named as one of the big favorites, and now they are the only team to have a clean sheet in the first round of the playoffs. Anyway ,the season for Brooklyn is over. This time the team will have an impressive amount of work on the bugs. And we will monitor how the franchise management will get out of this situation.