The Nets’ challenge of holding the fort without Kevin Durant became even more challenging on Sunday when Ben Simmons joined him in the trainer’s room as a late scratch.
But it all came crumbling down with another brutal fourth quarter.
The Nets led by 10 points late in the third quarter but for the second straight game ran out of gas in the fourth as they fell to the Thunder, 112-102, at Barclays Center.
Without Durant and Simmons, the spotlight turned squarely on Kyrie Irving to shoulder the load. But the Nets star had an off night, finishing with 15 points on 7-for-20 shooting, including 1 of 7 from 3-point land, to go with six rebounds and six assists.
The Nets (27-15) fell to 0-2 since Durant sprained his MCL — after going 5-16 without him last season, including an 11-game losing streak — with the back-to-back losses their first such set since Nov. 13-15.
“It was all glory, glory last week when we were winning games every game,” Irving said. “And now we’re answering questions about potentially struggling. I don’t think we are going to struggle without Kevin now. That’s not my belief. I know guys in the locker room don’t believe that.
“This isn’t last year at all. So the comparisons have got to stop. I’ll leave it up to [the media] to do that. For us, we don’t have any comparison to last year. We just want to control our focus level and how we prepare.”
Seth Curry led the Nets with 23 points off the bench, but it was not enough to hold off the Thunder (21-23), who got 28 points apiece from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey. Luguentz Dort added 22.
The Nets brought a five-point lead into the fourth quarter but quickly saw it wiped away in less than two minutes.
The Thunder then led, 87-76, when they went on a wild 3-point frenzy, connecting from downtown on four of five possessions — with the Nets answering them twice — to take a 99-92 lead with 6:12 left in regulation.
From there, the Nets had their chances to close the gap, but went cold from beyond the arc as the Thunder pushed their lead into double digits for the first time all night at 105-94 with 3:04 to go. The Nets were getting solid looks but shot just 2 of 13 from deep in the fourth quarter.
“I think we got good looks,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “We just needed them to go.”
The Thunder also got to the foul line 24 times in the second half after taking just two free throws in the first half.
After leading by two points at the half, the Nets began to create some separation in the third quarter, with Irving leading the charge. He scored on back-to-back possessions and then found Yuta Watanabe on the fast break as the Nets took a 69-62 lead.
Then, following four straight points by Gilgeous-Alexander, the Nets went on a 9-2 run that gave them a double-digit lead for the first time all night at 78-68 with 2:34 left in the third quarter.
But once the fourth quarter rolled around, Durant’s absence again loomed larger. They no longer have one of the NBA’s best players to lean on in crunch time, and for the second straight game, their lead disappeared late without him.
“I think that’s the challenge for us as a group to be able to sustain,” Vaughn said. “That is harder, mentally and physically, because Kevin does save you at times and give you a bucket and so now your defense is set. That’s the challenge for this group is they have to dig in and have a mental fortitude greater than before.”
