Tennie Sumague
EBC New York Bureau
NEW YORK (Eagle News) – LeBron James and Anthony Davis have competition out in the East where a super-talented tandem in Brooklyn named Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving can possibly deny the Los Angeles Lakers’ chances to defend their NBA title.
The most awaited game featured the debut of the Nets’ dynamic duo against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Durant and Irving combined for 48 points in the Nets 125-99 victory over Durant’s former team. The victory gave Nets head coach Steve Nash his first career win as an NBA head coach.
“I’d be lying to say we’re not blessed with a lot of great offensive players, and depth, a lot of shooting,” said Nash.
“So we should be able to score the ball; that shouldn’t be a problem. But we’ve just got to continue to refine it, be efficient. As the season goes on teams are going to get better. It’s been a very short training camp, there were a lot of people coming into camp not in their best condition and then all the different things that go into this – this season in a pandemic – is going to allow teams, is going to show teams are little bit behind where we normally would be. So as teams get better, ourselves included, and tighten up we’re going to be more efficient. And that’s all I’m saying, that we’ve got a lot of work to do there as well, but we have talent and we can score”
Brooklyn is one of the heavy favorites to win this season’s Larry O’Brien trophy and looked like an electrifying high-caliber team that displayed great chemistry, teamwork, and synergy.
“I think it’s been a long time coming and I’m grateful that we could let our games do the talking, but I’m also grateful that we can have relationships here that matter on the court that help us off the court,” said Irving. “And that was something that I had with KD that I have with other guys on the team as well. It’s just more or less our synergy off the floor and now playing on the floor has made a difference. We spent a lot of time together, we’ve just gone through challenging times, and we’re able to put on this uniform as a team together, while understanding that the more we stay collective as a group, the better we’ll be in the long run. We don’t want to let anything disrupt what we’ve got going on. It’s as simple. It’s a championship. So we’ve got to enjoy this regular season like I said, but we’re just gonna enjoy every step of the journey as well, too.”
It was Durant’s first game since tearing his Achilles during Game five of the 2019 NBA finals 18 months ago. His game still showed elements of KD pre-injury, finishing the night with 22 points in 25 minutes of play.
“I don’t have to show anybody anything,” Durant said. “Whatever they gravitate they gravitate to. I don’t wanna prove myself but do whatever my coach wants me to do. Any given night I can showcase my full skill set.”
Caris LeVert added 20 points for the Nets. Stephen Curry, who is coming off a long layoff and a hand injury finished with 20 points for the Warriors.
(Eagle News Service)