NFL
By: Christopher Jordan
The Brooklyn Nets coming into the season had a lot of controversy with the uncertainty of Kyrie Irving vaccination status and with him only being able to play road games.
The big talk around the NBA was Kyrie Irving and how much did he value winning because he was the reason why Kevin Durant came to Brooklyn to team up with him. Irving was one of the reasons why James Harden forced his way out of Houston to go to Brooklyn.
The talk around NBA was how good was Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden going to be together. However, that wasn’t the case because Durant, Irving, and Harden only played 16 games together.
During the season, all the chatter was about Kyrie’s decision to not get the vaccine and be a part-time player. It seemed like Harden was all on the board with the Nets despite Irving decision to be with the team part-time and only play road games.
Head Coach of the Brooklyn Nets Steve Nash told the media that Harden told him that he was all in for the season and competing for a Championship. Nash was unaware that Harden felt didn’t about the Nets and he was planning his way out of Brooklyn.
The landing spot he wanted to go to be a part of the Philadelphia 76ers and join forces with Joel Embiid and reunite with Daryl Morey.
Morey had been trying to get Harden since he departed from the Houston Rockets. On the end, the 76ers we’re dealing with Ben Simmons who has been wanting to get out of Philly. Both Brooklyn and Philly got what they wanted when the trade went down before the trade deadline ended.
The Nets traded Harden to the 76ers and in return, the Nets got Seth Curry, DeAndre Drummond, and two first-round picks. How the trade went down there was some bad blood between both teams because of how Harden we about getting out of Brooklyn. On the other hand, Simmons told the team he wanted out of Philadelphia last year after the 76ers lost the Hawks and Simmons didn’t like how Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid addressed the media after the game.
Coming into last night’s game between the Nets and the 76ers it was a game where both teams wanted to make a statement and put the entire NBA on notice. Both teams came to play but the Nets put the 76ers on notice after a 29-point beat down and gave the 76ers their first loss since the arrival on Harden.
Kevin Durant came out like a man on a mission. He scored 25 points and added 14 rebounds. Irving added 22 points and Seth Curry dropped 24 while hitting four threes from the three-point range. The entire team made a statement showing that they’re a team that nobody wants to face in the playoffs when they have their full roster.
Unlike the Nets, the 76ers laid an egg and they looked like a team that got overwhelmed by a team that’s just better overall. Harden had only 11 points and shot 3/17 from the field. He played one of the worst games out of his career and it looked like the moment was too big for him.
Embiid had a rough night as well. He shot 5/17 from the field and didn’t impose his will like he usually does.
With this statement win can Brooklyn get on a winning streak and try to move up in the standings in the Eastern Conference?
If the Nets stay at the 7th or 8th seed, they have a good chance at facing the 76ers in the first round of the playoffs.
That would be the greatest first-round matchup in NBA history.[pickup_prop id=”21435″]
