Kyrie Irving’s block party and the Simmons/Claxton question: 5 thoughts on

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – With Kyrie Irving tightly on him, Luka Dončić attempted to change direction, only to find Ben Simmons heading his way.

The 6-foot-10 point guard came over as the help defender, poked the ball free and hit the open court. As two defenders closed in on him, he turned around to find a streaking Kevin Durant. Simmons passed to Durant and watched him finish a monstrous dunk, tying the game with 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

It was Simmons’ first real highlight as a Net. Here the 26-year-old was checking off two of the boxes he was brought in for, playmaking and defense, to help the Nets in the clutch.

BIG TIME STOP @BenSimmons25 ➡️ @KDTrey5 pic.twitter.com/i0d40VoHp1

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) October 28, 2022

But it wasn’t enough, as Dončić’s 41-point triple-double carried the Mavericks over the Nets 129-125 in overtime to drop Brooklyn to 1-4. Kyrie Irving had 39 points and Durant had 37. Indiana, which is likely lottery-bound at season’s end, comes to Brooklyn for a two-game miniseries starting on Saturday.

With the Nets losers of three straight games, here are five thoughts on the loss.

Rotating door for third scorer

After Irving’s and Durant’s performances, the Nets’ third-leading scorer was tied between Royce O’Neale and David Duke Jr., who each finished with 10 points on the night. The team was without Joe Harris and Seth Curry, the former resting as a precaution after undergoing two ankle surgeries in the past year. Curry spent the day with the Long Island Nets and had a strong practice. He could make his season debut on Saturday. Nash said Markieff Morris will also rejoin the team then. He’s been out because of personal reasons.

The lack of depth has left Durant and Irving struggling to find a third reliable scorer as Simmons continues to search for his footing. Simmons finished with just seven points, eight rebounds and four assists in the loss and missed a few easy layups, but continued to show aggression by driving toward the rim.

KD is averaging 33 PPG.

Kyrie is averaging 30 PPG.

The Nets are 1-4. pic.twitter.com/dDB8nS6WzB

— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 28, 2022

The loss also showed how important T.J. Warren could be, should he return and look close to the 20 points-per-game scorer he had been. Through five games, the Nets have had four different players be their third leading scorer with Patty Mills, Nic Claxton, O’Neale and Duke all filling that spot. None eclipsed the 20-point mark. While paying respect to Dončić in his postgame media conference, Durant pointed out how the Mavericks had six players reach double figures in their win. The Nets were two baskets away from having Durant and Irving be their only double-digit scorers.

“Everybody was involved,” Durant said of Dallas. “They made shots.”

If Brooklyn wants to have a deep postseason run, it will be hard to do so if Durant and Irving have to maintain the scoring burden they’ve taken on early in the…