It’s official, the Brooklyn Nets are eliminated from the NBA playoffs and their season is over. The Boston Celtics swept the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving led squad in an almost embarrassing fashion. From the start of the season, the Nets were all over the place. Here’s the top reasons their season ended this way.

Never had a clear set roster

From the start of the season, it was unclear of the Nets roster. Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge were additions that went in and out the lineup with minutes. James Harden was obviously a distraction. Harden went from being injured, to being in rumors, to wanting out and in Philly immediately. For most of the season the Nets played without Kyrie Irving because of him not getting a vaccine. This roster was all over the place. Not to mention the last minute trade that forced head coach Steve Nash to adjust. 

The play-in game ruined their stamina

One reason I never liked the play-in games is because even if a team wins and takes a seed, by the time they get to the first round, guys are tired. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving literally had to ball out every single night to get into the playoffs. When they finally got to the Celtics, they were tired. 

Drama… and more drama 

This is pretty simple: the Brooklyn Nets made headlines all season for the wrong reasons. With Kyrie Irving taking days off and only being able to play away games, or James Harden requesting a trade, the Nets were a mess. Even when all-star captains Kevin Durant and LeBron James were picking their teams on live television. The pettiness was there all through the NBA season. 

Injuries 

In the NBA, you can always blame a disappointing season on this. But the Nets caught the short end of the stick with injuries. Whether he was faking it or not Harden was injured for some games. KD was hurt through the middle and of the season. Ben Simmons didn’t play a single game for whatever new injury he woke up with. Joe Harris was a huge part of this team and he was out the entire season. 

Never found their identity 

All of these elements above all came down to the most important part that kept this team from advancing to the next round. They never found out who they were as a team. On offense, Steve Nash never had any real set plans or plays aside from giving the ball to Kyrie or KD. And when it comes to playoff basketball, everything is slowed down, and you find the true identity of a team. Iso ball just doesn’t work. Defensively, Andre Drummond had his moments, but as we saw in game 4, athleticism instead of size was most effective for this team.