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The Brooklyn Nets have been blowing the doors off of practically everyone they’ve played of late. Entering Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, they had won 12 games in a row with the last six by a combined 100 points. But the Bulls dropped 40 first-quarter points on the Nets en route to a 121-112 victory, which ended the NBA’s longest win streak of the season.
The Nets’ run may be over, but Kevin Durant remains as hot as ever. He did everything in his power to keep this game close with 44 points, but by the second half, Chicago was doubling Durant frequently in an effort to get him to pass the ball. They succeeded. The Nets not named Kevin Durant shot a meager 39 percent from the field and less than 26 percent from deep.
It was only the Nets’ second loss since Thanksgiving weekend, and in the grand scheme of things a single defeat means little to the Nets when the teams above them are struggling just to stay afloat. After starting 18-4, the Boston Celtics are 8-8 in their past 16 games and on Tuesday lost a 150-117 laugher to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Milwaukee is 5-5 in its last 10 games, and after blowing a 16-point lead in the final 1:50, needed overtime to defeat the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
Brooklyn is currently tied with Milwaukee for the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed, but given the struggles the Bucks and Celtics are currently enduring, the Nets are still in prime position to move to the top of the conference if they keep up their recent performance. All winning streaks come to an end eventually, but if it takes doubles on Durant and poor shooting from everyone else to beat this Nets team, they’re going to be just fine moving forward.
