The Nets might not be at rock bottom yet, but they're heading that way — fast.
Brooklyn (29-23) continues to slide down the Eastern Conference standings with its seventh consecutive loss, this time losing to the Utah Jazz, 125-102. The Jazz have now won two consecutive games after having been on a five-game losing streak.
The Nets are currently the sixth seed but hold just a 0.5 game lead over the surging Toronto Raptors (who have won five in a row) in seventh, and just a one-game lead over the Boston Celtics in eighth.
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Brooklyn has now lost four straight on this current road trip and it has dropped 14 of its last 20. This is the Nets' longest losing streak for over two years.
If the Nets are to turn their season around and win a championship, they would become the first team to do so after enduring a seven-plus losing streak.
The Nets are 2-8 since KD’s injury.
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 5, 2022
They have lost 7 in a row.
No team in NBA history has won a championship after suffering a 7+ game losing streak. pic.twitter.com/aJiDsbUSeI
Brooklyn has struggled with injuries this season - it is just 2-8 since Kevin Durant's injury. The Nets did not gave James Harden available for the game against the Jazz, but they did have Kyrie Irving, although he struggled, finishing with just 15 points (6-of-20 shooting) and six assists.
Postgame, Irving said it was not time to press the panic button just yet.
"There's no time to feel like our season is in doomsday or we need to push the panic button at all points," he said.
"There's no time to feel like our season is in doomsday or we need to push the panic button at all points"
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) February 5, 2022
Kyrie Irving talks about what the Nets need to do to turn things around pic.twitter.com/PClXz5OuQ8
After the loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Irving refuted the notion that the team requires a "players only" meeting to clear the air and try to get their season back on track.
"Na, we've done too much talking," he said. "We just gotta go out there and do it, and do it consistently. We have times where we're great, and times where we're really bad. We've just gotta find consistency throughout the course of games."
Irving, who did not have a proper training camp with the Nets due to his unvaccinated status, admitted that has factored into his form since coming back.
"I don't feel like I'm anywhere close to where I want to be personally," he said. "The eight-month layoff coming off my ankle injury and not being able to have the summer that I wanted to, not being able to have preseason, not being to just dial in with the guys early on in the season...it definitely had an impact mentally and physically.
"I'm just battling through it and trying to put together a full 48-minute game where I know I'm myself."
The Nets have one more game on this current five-game road stand at Denver, before facing the Celtics at home, then the Wizards and the Heat away from home.
They're now just 15-16 against teams with a record of .500 and above this season, and if the Nets are to salvage its season, this run of games will ultimately tell us if they are championship contenders or pretenders.
