The NBA is a lot like nature. It is much easier to be a hunter than a hunted one.
The Nets remembered that Sunday in Charlotte.
Brooklyn came out flat and paid for it, stiffened by 106-104 Hungry Hornets for their first loss of the season.
Apart from Kevin Durant (29 points) and Kyrie Irving (25), the Nets are not used to playing with a target on their back. But with their healthy, playful stars, Brooklyn might as well add colorful bull’s-eyes behind their Basquiat-inspired T-shirts.
“It simply came to our notice then. … I think we could have played better. I know we could have played better, “said Jarrett Allen. “I know we could have gone out and had a lot more energy. I know we weren’t playing to the fullest.
“Being in the position we are in now with KD and Kyrie back and we are a complete team, we will definitely have the goal behind us in every game. We will definitely get 100% from each team. So we have to get out there ready every time. “
The Nets weren’t nearly ready, after the first two quarters carelessly, with an even worse third. They followed up with 16 in the fourth, before an 18-4 run brought them in two. But they didn’t come close.
“It’s good to have that target on your back,” Durant said. “It will bring out the best in you.”
Durant missed a potential fadeaway with just 7 seconds left, and the Nets suffered their first loss of the season after the Golden State and Boston blasts.
“I do not think so [had] a sense of urgency. We were a little passive, “said coach Steve Nash. “We will have a target on our back and we have to get up at hand.
“You think you can be a better team, [but] you will get a much better team than the night before, because I see the name on the back of the shirt and they will be at their height. “
For a regular Nets team to be the hunter, an attitude adjustment will be needed. I’m in a rare position to be hunted, despite the fact that they haven’t won anything yet.
“Being a network all my life is definitely something I’m going to have to get used to,” Allen said. “Without disrespect for us, but we were never the top team. We were always the ones who didn’t fight and we looked at other people as targets. And now the roles are reversed. “
Nets were outscored in paint 64-26, partly due to defensive switch failures and partly due to 19 turnovers that allowed Charlotte to enter the transition and early offensive. Spencer Dinwiddie left the game with a knee injury in the third quarter and never returned.
However, the Nets fell just 84-81 in the fourth, when they lost 13-0, one step behind 3 Miles Bridges, who made it 97-81, with 7:59 to play.
Nets tried to gather, scoring 10 straight with a Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot 3 that shot them in six.
The race ended 18-4, with Allen winning a 2:20 line trip to play. But after sinking the first, he missed the second, leaving the Nets down 101-99. Then Irving was blocked, which led to a corner of Devonte ‘Graham 3. Nets followed by five and never crossed the hump.
Another Luwawu-Cabarrot 3 shot them in 104-102 and they had a chance after PJ Washington missed two free throws. Durant organized a two-man game with Irving, had a chance for a 3 dagger, but took a few dribbles and fired from 9 yards out. His shot rolled and came out after 7.4 seconds.
Terry Rozier’s free throws made sure there was no VT.
“I thought he was coming in. He looked good,” Durant said. “I am sure that we will recover the situation again throughout the season and I will be able to capitalize on it.
“It was good to play again in the fourth quarter, to play a game that we had to fight up and come back to get back in the game. … They made more songs than us. But it was fun to play in that environment again. “