Durant returns but Irving out in loss

The Nets’ defensive issues continued, and their offense did not explode. With Kevin Durant back in the rotation, but still no Kyrie Irving (personal reasons), the Nets lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 129-116 on Sunday night in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn built a 15-point second-quarter lead, but when the Nets offense faltered, the defense didn’t pick up the slack. The Thunder, led by third-year guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, scored 99 points in the first three quarters. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points on 10-for-15 shooting, leading the Thunder to an early 5-4 record.

The Brooklyn defense had few answers for the Thunder’s budding star, who also finished with seven assists and two steals.

The defense had few answers for any Oklahoma City players, for that matter. The team shot 54% from the field and made 15 of its 39 attempts from behind the arc.

Durant returned from missing three games due to the NBA’s contact tracing protocol, and was aggressive, scoring 36 points on 11-for-21 shooting from deep. The Nets, as a team, also shot 50 percent from the field, with Caris LeVert going for 21 points and Taurean Prince coming off the bench to score 11.

Brooklyn’s issue came on the defensive end. Despite Durant’s attempt at late-game heroics, the Nets just could not get a stop down the stretch. Coach Steve Nash ultimately emptied his bench at the 2:15 mark.

Nash acknowledged his team would play a different style without Irving in the rotation, but he still wanted to see the fundamentals on display: connectivity, ball movement, playing hard and playing together.

“We want to play the right way, so to speak, no matter who’s in the lineup,” he said pregame. “So in a sense, you can lean on that whereas when he’s not in the lineup, you have to lean more on the connectivity of ball movement, things like that.”