The Nets lose a game in Milwaukee after a dominating 12-point lead in the first half and this Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving exchange might have something to do with it.
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Brooklyn Nets visited Milwaukee on Wednesday with the intention to better their (1-2) start of the season. They were even playing some defense in order to do that which is a rarity from the Brooklyn side.
Although the match started with Kevin Durant and his men getting hammered by Giannis Antetokounmpo in the first quarter which ended with the Bucks having a 25-20 lead, the Nets came roaring back in the second stopping Bucks to 18 while getting 35 themselves.
Ben Simmons’ defensive presence was a big part of that. The 6’11 point guard literally contained Giannis in that quarter, but it was his offense that again came to question, this time though, one of his teammates was the one asking.
Kyrie Irving calls out Ben Simmons to take a shot mid-game
Looking to even up their W/L column, the Nets visited Milwaukee, who had won their first two games.
But as things were going with them by the end of the 2nd quarter, there was an instance around the first couple of minutes of the third which could give a similar scare to the Nets fans like the Philly fans.
It was during a fast break when Irving passed the ball to the big guard while running through traffic and after collecting the ball Ben didn’t even think about finishing when he was just 10 feet out and passed the ball up to KD.
As that happened, Kyrie, quite visibly, was begging his teammate to shoot the ball, which can also be clearly heard in the following embed.
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) October 27, 2022
Yikes! Reminiscing 76ers’ 2021 Playoffs exit, are you?
Simmons could be the key to everything good and bad for Brooklyn
As soon as James Harden swapped jerseys with the Australian international last season, everyone knew the Nets would be terrific if Ben, KD, and Kyrie all play their games. But the latter two had to stay for it.
Simmons’ playmaking and defense would complement the Nets like no other team in the league. And when they were able to hold on to both KD and Kyrie in the offseason, the NBA community was excited to see the trio on the court.
They weren’t as good as people expected them to be to start the first three games. They lost against the New Orleans Pelicans (130-108) and Memphis Grizzlies (134-124) squeezing a 109-105 win against the Raptors in between.
In this 110-99 loss against the Bucks, they showed how good they can be defensively if needed, with Simmons’ capabilities of causing trouble to a 2x MVP and Finals MVP.
But they will have to limit their expectations of him right there. Kyrie, KD, or any Nets players for that matter shouldn’t call him out on the court like that because he’s too sensitive for that.
Let the man play his game and reap the rewards from it when in fact, you don’t even need his scoring to win games anyway. Then why call him out?
