If the Brooklyn Nets want to salvage their season, they need Kevin Durant back in vintage form.
The hope is that’s now what they’re getting. Durant is back in game action, playing for the first time last week after missing 21 games with a sprained MCL. As of Wednesday, the Nets, widely regarded to have superteam potential but have had their season marred by injuries and controversy (thus prompting them to overhaul their roster), sit in eighth in the Eastern Conference at 33-33.
Barring a bigger collapse, the Nets will at the very least earn a spot in the play-in tournament. That would still be underachieving, but would at least keep their season live.
And Durant, as he does, gave a candid take on the stature of the Nets during his podcast “The ETCs with Kevin Durant.”
“I know with our team, losses are piling up and it’s looking real grim around the team as a fan,” Durant said. “They look at me as the guy to come in and smooth everything out, and I feel like I can definitely help, but at the same time I don’t want to play unless I can be me. Where I can go 100 percent effort, where I’m not holding back, where I’m not a liability out there. I don’t want to go out there and play 10 minutes just to be a decoy. I wanted to make sure I was at the top of my game and I feel like I’m in a solid position to get back to where I was.”
At some point, the Nets are expected to have recently-acquired Ben Simmons available, which should help.
Durant, for his part, is averaging 27.3 points, 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds in the three games since returning. They’ll need him to contribute at least that and probably more in order to keep the Nets afloat through the home stretch.
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