BROOKLYN NETS

The defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors on the road during the second night of a back-to-back — now, what’s so scary about that?

On the bright side, at least Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were out with injuries. Still, by the end, it would not matter in the slightest.

In any case, the Brooklyn Nets were not content to simply raise the white flag. D’Angelo Russell, in particular, came out with fire in his eyes as he put up 10 points in only seven minutes across the first quarter. It was a high scoring affair with the Warriors getting the better of it, eventually shooting 65.8% from the floor in the first half. However, the game didn’t get too far away from the Nets due in large part to Joe Harris, who asserted himself as a key part of the offense.

Unfortunately, when Joey Buckets went to the bench with three fouls, the Nets’ offense went with him. Sensing the focal point absence, the Warriors, as they do, went on a big run to close out the half with a double-digit lead.

Even though the Warriors were shooting an insanely high percentage, but it wasn’t necessarily because the Nets were playing terrible defense either — they’re just simply the best, sometimes that’s OK. Future Hall of Fame locks like Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson will hit shots even if you play perfect defense, that’s not a difficult reality to accept. On the other hand, Quinn Cook may have not had such a performance if the Nets had played the same level of defense that they had utilized earlier in this road trip. While the situation looked dire, there was still a slight hope. If the Warriors somehow came back down to Earth, the Nets would have an opportunity.

Sadly, this is real life, and the Warriors are the Warriors.

While the offense started to warm up under the direction of Spencer Dinwiddie, the team still struggled to get defensive stops. The Nets had a hard time keeping up with the firepower of the Warriors after their slugfest against Denver on Friday. They were outscored by eight in the third quarter and never really found a way back into the game. The Warriors simply shot the basketball better than the Nets — what can you do?

While this result is definitely not what the Nets wanted, going 1-1 against two of the top teams in the Western Conference in a back-to-back on the road is nothing to scoff at. With a day of rest and a Jimmy Butler-less Minnesota Timberwolves coming up next, the Nets still have reason to be optimistic that they can finish this road trip 3-1.