The Brooklyn Nets were back in Cleveland tonight to play their second game against the Cavaliers. They were without Kevin Durant, who played 50 minutes last game. So James Harden and Kyrie Irving were leading them today, but they couldn’t prevent being embarrassed again.

Midway through the third quarter, the Cavs were leading by five points. After Colin Sexton attempted a three and missed, Isaac Okoro kept it alive as he tipped the offensive rebound to Andre Drummond. The two-time All-Star showed off his point guard skills with a beautiful pass through the defense to Larry Nance Jr, who was waiting in the paint.

As he received the ball, Nance only had Harden in the paint to stop him. Taking advantage of this mismatch, Nance dunked all over the 2018 MVP with a monster jam.

James Harden unable to prevent the Nets from losing back-to-back games

The Nets did their best in the previous game, but the Cavs were resilient. They took them to two overtimes, and eventually came out on top, led by Sexton. He dropped 42 points on them, and the trio of Durant, Harden, and Irving wasn’t enough to stop the worst offense in the league.

Tonight, the Nets came in without Durant and things just got worse for them. They kept it close in the first half, with Harden and Irving controlling their offense. However, they were still down by one point. And from the second half onwards, the Cavs took over completely.

They won the game by 12 points, with Sexton running the show once again, this time a little less efficient. The Nets would have been most upset seeing former players Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince playing well and inflicting pain on the team that traded them away.

For the Nets, Harden was unable to step up in the absence of Durant. Irving was doing his best, but their lack of defense was their biggest problem.

They got weak defensively after the Harden trade, and these last two games have exposed this glaring problem. They also got out-rebounded heavily, which led to multiple second-chance points for the Cavs.

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They need to bring in reinforcements via trade or free agents; otherwise, this celebrated trio will be unable to win games, and a championship will remain a distant dream.

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