The Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers faced off at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Friday, with the latter team claiming victory for the second consecutive time.
The Cavaliers have significantly improved. However, given that the Nets have championship aspirations, many expected them to learn from the mistakes they made in the previous clash. To the NBA community's surprise, this was far from the case.
In their post-game interviews, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan and Steve Nash shared some interesting thoughts about the franchise.
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Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan speak on the Brooklyn Nets' Championship expectations this season
The Brooklyn Nets' utter lack of defense became clearer against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The team couldn't stop giving up easy buckets to their opposition and seemed helpless in critical moments on the defensive end of the floor.
Speaking on this worry, head coach Steve Nash had this to say after the game,
"We're not a defensive roster, we have to take more pride and we have to win more 50-50s, contest more shots, fight, scrap, claw. And that's what I think is missing as much as anything schematic that we're breaking down."
There have also been concerns about how the Brooklyn Nets are not trying hard enough during the regular season and are only waiting for the postseason to show real effort.
While this is something that most of the biggest franchises in the NBA do, Kyrie Irving was quick to point out that this team doesn't wish to fall in the category.
Speaking on the topic at hand, the 28-year-old said:
"We don't want to be the flip-the-switch team. We don't."
The Brooklyn Nets are still contenders for the 2021 NBA Championship. However, the franchise needs to properly address its concerns on the defensive end of the floor. Not doing so immediately could prove to be fatal in the upcoming NBA Playoffs.
Cleveland Cavaliers Nation! You can check out the latest Cleveland Cavaliers Schedule and dive into the Cavaliers Depth Chart for NBA Season 2024-25.