MY ACCOUNT
Kevin Durant has slammed his Brooklyn Nets teammates for “f****d-up attitude” after suffering a shock 120-116 defeat to the under-strength Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
The Clippers charged home in the final quarter, despite Durant’s 28 points and nine rebounds, scoring 40-29 to claim the four-point win.
The defeat, with the Clippers missing star trio Kawhi Leonard (ACL), Nicolas Batum (ankle) and Paul George (elbow), left Durant furious with his side.
“We just relaxed too much,” Durant said at the post-game news conference. “We get up 10 [points], miss a layup or turn the ball over, and they get a fast break, give up a three, straight-line drive – like coach [Steve Nash] said, we didn’t deserve to win this game.
“We came in here with a f****d-up attitude. Thinking we were just going to walk into a W.”
He added: “It’s natural when a team is missing so many players. They’re going through so much over there. [We] relaxed.
“You don’t think you could lose an NBA game like this. They’re missing how many guys? They’re playing guys that are up from the G League.
“Xavier Moon came in and hit some shots for them. Keon Johnson, James Ennis – they all made an impact I felt on the game, and I think we came in too chill to start.”
The Nets, who coughed up 15 turnovers, slip to a 23-11 record, while Eastern Conference contenders the Chicago Bulls (24-10) and the Milwaukee Bucks (25-13) both won on Saturday.
Nets head coach Steve Nash lamented his side’s lack of “care factor”, with the defeat coming two days after going down to the Philadelphia 76ers 110-102.
“I just think [conceding] 71 points in the second half is unacceptable,” Nash said. “We just never really had the care factor.
“Turned it up, we had a chance up nine, 10, 11 in the third and fourth at different times and just took our foot off the gas and got what we deserved, really.
“All those guys in there, I think they know it, they’re disappointed of course, but it’s a disappointment for all of us – that was obviously a very winnable game that we let get away.”
James Harden became the first player in Nets franchise history with back-to-back triple-doubles with 30 or more points, with 34 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists against the Clippers.
