Nets booed as they drop to 1-5 in 125-116 loss to Pacers

Two groups performed basketball at Barclays Heart on Saturday. Let’s name them Group A and Group B.

Group A has the NBA’s third-largest payroll and a roster with two probably hall-of-fame gamers main the cost. Group B has the NBA’s second-cheapest payroll, three rotation gamers watching from the sidelines and a roster filled with largely younger, creating prospects.

Group A is meant to win in a recreation towards Group B, and it shouldn’t be a contest. In reality, Las Vegas made Group A 11-point favorites.

But such is the state of affairs for a Brooklyn Nets staff that has now misplaced 4 video games in a row and dropped to a 1-5 document after their embarrassing 125-116 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, a loss punctuated by Kevin Durant — a sure-fire first-ballot Corridor of Famer — slapping the scorer’s desk in frustration with 4 minutes left within the fourth quarter on the very second he, like many within the crowd, realized his staff was not going to win.

A roster with Durant and Kyrie Irving, succesful shooters and playmakers ought to blow the lid off of most opponents, particularly opponents just like the Pacers who should not contending for a championship and may not even qualify for the Play-In Event.

As an alternative, the Nets appear like the staff headed for one more Play-In Event look, solely this time, they don’t have the laundry checklist of excuses to justify the poor efficiency. Solely this time, the Nets have had a full coaching camp with their largely wholesome roster and so they’re persevering with to battle.

The primary few losses have been excusable. The New Orleans Pelicans have established themselves as a darkish horse NBA Finals contender within the Western Convention. The Memphis Grizzlies put the league on discover final season, the Milwaukee Bucks are perennial contenders, and Luka Doncic could possibly be the NBA’s Most Priceless Participant of the 12 months this season. He hung a 40-point triple-double to beat the Nets in time beyond regulation.

The Nets have been purported to beat the lowly Indiana Pacers on Saturday. It was as near an early-season must-win because it will get.

[ Nets loss to Bucks underscores glaring areas for improvement ]

However the identical points that plagued the Nets of their first 4 losses of the season doomed them within the fifth. The protection was atrocious, the Nets acquired outrebounded by a wider margin (52-35) than they misplaced by and Ben Simmons continues to be a shell of himself offensively.

The sport plan towards the Nets is obvious: In case you can put a shoulder right into a participant, you possibly can probably get by him, and if you will get by him, there’s no true enforcer on the roster to guard the rim. Far too typically, a defender had to assist from the weak aspect, which made the Nets prone to the nook three.

This occurred time and time once more: The Pacers hit 23 triples, tying an all-time document for many threes made towards the Nets in franchise historical past.

A few of these threes have been flukes – that’s, Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and rookie Bennedict Mathurin strolling up the court docket and capturing over a contest. Lots of them, nevertheless, weren’t.

The Nets’ protection is in a foul place.

And so, it could seem, are each the staff and the fan base. Some Nets followers started booing the staff as a lowly Indiana roster ran up a double-digit lead. Different followers booed the Nets as they walked off their stunning “basic” court docket design.

The Nets have one other likelihood in a recreation they’re closely favored in — as a result of Group A and Group B play once more on Halloween.