The longer this season progresses the more it appears that we are witnessing history in the making in the Association. At the pace the New Jersey Nets are now playing at they will end up with a 6-76 record when the NBA regular season concludes in April. If that were to happen the Nets would absolutely blow the 1972-1973 Philadelphia 76ers out of the water as the “Worst Team In NBA History.”
There have been other teams that looked like they would be an actual contender at the start of a season only to eventually hit a hot streak and fall out of the running. But the Sixers record of 9-73 may fall by the wayside this season as New Jersey keeps up their historic pace.
The Nets are now 2-29 so far in the campaign as they fell Monday night to a team that is starting to get a lot of positive attention the Oklahoma City Thunder. Thunder forward Kevin Durant scored 40 points which matched his previous best this season and New Jersey has now lost ten straight games as the fell to Oklahoma City by a 105-89 margin. New Jersey forward Yi Jianlian led all five Nets starters with 29 points however it was not nearly enough as his team fell behind early and never seemed to regain their composure.
How tough do you imagine playing for New Jersey this season has been for anyone on the team? They must go out onto the court every game asking themselves how they will blow it in that game. There is no way you can ever win with that kind of attitude so it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. They have fired their head coach they have gotten their injured players back on the hardwood but the song remains the same.
OKC jumped on top at the end of the first by a 32-27 margin. The Thunder would get their lead up to six points by the time the contest reached the half as they led 61-55. The Nets would only see their deficit increase in the third as Oklahoma City would be on top at the end of the period 84-76. New Jersey completely fell apart down the stretch scoring just 13 points in the final 12 minutes and the Thunder had a pretty easy win.
Kevin Durant knocked down a game high 40 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists while Nenad Krstic had 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Russell Westbrook had a double-double with 16 points, 10 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals while Nick Collison came and also recorded a double-double with 11 points, 10 boards and 1 block.
Yi Jianlian had a strong game for the Nets as he scored 29 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals while Courtney Lee added 17 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 1 steal. Trenton Hassell had 14 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals while Brook Lopez knocked down 10 points in the loss. Oklahoma City now has a 16-14 record and will play in Washington Tuesday night against the Wizards while New Jersey is 2-29 and will host the Knicks Wednesday.
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