However, let’s not forget how deadly that Nets team was at full strength during the 2020-21 season.<\/p>\n
Jeff Green, Blake Griffin, Joe Harris, Bruce Brown and Landry Shamet all meshed very well with the Nets’ Big 3.<\/p>\n
Durant, Irving and Harden were all still playing at the top of their games and found the perfect balance of how to coexist with one another with just one ball to go around.<\/p>\n
Harden and Irving held down the fort in Durant’s absence, as the Nets lost three games from Feb. 10 through the end of March.<\/p>\n
Durant put forth some of the best performances in NBA playoff history, coming one point shy of a 50 point-triple-double in Game 5 of the Nets’ second-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.<\/p>\n
If it wasn’t for Durant’s big toe on the line in Game 7 of that series, the Nets could’ve advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals without Irving and with Harden battling a Grade 2 hamstring strain.<\/p>\n
Many believed that the Nets would’ve been able to bounce back the following season with better health and more continuity in the picture.<\/p>\n
However, Irving only played 29 games that season, as he was barred from playing most home games due to his decision to not receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Harden also failed to play up to his best self before ultimately being traded to the Sixers.<\/p>\n
Harris also missed most of the season due to an ankle injury, Griffin lost a step and the Nets failed to find anyone who could adequately replace Green’s production.<\/p>\n
Simply put, everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong during that era, but at full strength, this team lived up to expectations in every way and consistently steamrolled their opponents, whether they were championship contenders or bottom feeders.<\/p>\n
If a vaccine mandate had never been put into place and the Nets got a little bit more luck with injuries, this group would’ve helped the team win a championship.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
Add us as a preferred source on Google