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Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash says his side are not in the category of this season’s NBA elite after a blowout 117-99 loss to the 12-2 Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
The star-studded Nets, who were billed as title favourites this season, were humbled on their home court, with their record moving to 10-5.
The Nets added James Harden in January alongside Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant last season, but crashed out in the conference semi-finals to eventual champions the Milwaukee Bucks.
Brooklyn are 0-4 against this season’s early contenders, the Warriors, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and Bucks.
“Well, I just don’t think we’re in that [elite] category yet,” Nash said at the post-game news conference. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.
“We’re trying to improve as a group, get better and hopefully we can find a way to overcome some of our deficiencies by the end of the year.
“The guys have been great buying into the things we want to do defensively. I think offensively we have all these different line-ups, different backgrounds, styles of play, 10 new players in our team, it takes time.
“We started the year with a continuity plan from last year that got thrown out when Ky [Kyrie Irving] didn’t come back. Tonight was a great lesson for us that we’ve got to double down on some of our principles when the going gets tough.”
Durant had his lowest points return for the season with 19, as the Warriors piled on a 35-18 third quarter, before benching star guard Stephen Curry, who was in foul trouble, for the majority of the final period.
Harden has had a slow start to the season by his standards after rehabbing a hamstring injury over the offseason, averaging 19.8 points per game.
The 32-year-old scored 24 points in Tuesday’s defeat but remained bullish about the Nets, reiterating it is still early in the season.
“The goal is to be the best team at the end of the season, in the postseason,” Harden said at the post-game news conference.
“That’s the goal. But probably not [there yet]. We’re probably nowhere near. But it’s a long season for us to get better, and we will continue to get better.”
