NEW YORK — More happened off the Barclays Center floor than on it on Monday.
Nets head coach Steve Nash entered the health and safety protocols, Kyrie Irving remained ineligible due to his status as an unvaccinated player, and Kevin Durant (MCL sprain) watched helplessly from the sidelines as the Toronto Raptors pummeled his Nets, 133-97.
With assistant coach Jacque Vaughn filling in for Nash, who entered the protocols during the national anthem, and with most of their stars watching from the sidelines, the Nets got roasted by the team directly ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings.
Which doesn’t bode well for their odds at climbing out of play-in tournament territory, especially considering the Nets travel to Toronto on Tuesday to play the Raptors again in the second game of a back-to-back. The Nets have fallen 3.5 games behind the sixth-seeded Boston Celtics, meaning Brooklyn needs to win four more games than Boston to supplant them in the East standings.
With just 20 more games on the schedule — 19 after their likely loss in Toronto on Tuesday — the Nets are running out of time to make something happen.
Irving is not eligible to play in Tuesday’s matchup in Toronto because Canada requires proof of vaccination to cross the border into the country. And based on Mayor Adams’ recent comments, it doesn’t look like the Nets star will be eligible to play at Barclays Center any time soon, either.
Ben Simmons is also far from making his Nets debut as he battles through conditioning and back soreness. The Nets are in dangerous territory; at least Durant is expected to return either for Thursday’s matchup against the Miami Heat or Sunday’s showdown in Boston against the Celtics.
The Nets are confident they’ll be a championship-contending team when their MVP returns. But without him, and without Irving, you get bludgeonings like the one we saw at The Clays on Monday.
