On paper, the Brooklyn Nets are a well-rounded team with a ton of talent.
With Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant on their side, they currently are one of the betting favorites to win the Eastern Conference in 2022.
Durant has already reached and passed the 25,000 points milestone and is prepared to take them all the way in the NBA playoffs this year.
On paper, this may be one of the best teams in the NBA, but you have to look closer.
The Nets are in trouble, and a few stats in particular could spell doom for them as they continue to slip in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Nets are one of the betting favs to win the East BUT:
32-33 record; no team has been under .500 through 65+ games of a season and won the Finals
Lost 17 of their last 20 games; no team in NBA history has gone 3-17 or worse over a 20-game span and reached the Finals pic.twitter.com/DiDRWkW5bI
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 7, 2022
Are The Nets Overrated?
The Nets are 32-33, under .500 after 65 games.
As the above tweet from ESPN explains, no team has ever come back from under .500 after 65 or more games to win a championship.
Going 3-17 over a 20-game stretch doesn’t help matters either, as no team has ever gone 3-17 or worse in a stretch of that many games to even reach the Finals.
Much like the Los Angeles Lakers, the Nets are a team that is not performing up to their level of expectation, so having them as betting favorites in the Eastern Conference is a little bit dangerous and potentially, ill-advised.
Given the level of talent on Brooklyn’s roster, one would think they’d be much higher up in the standings, but this recent 20-game stretch of basketball has taken them from close to the top to more of a fringe contender.
The Nets are in trouble, and as mentioned previously, it’s risky to have them as the betting favorites in the East right now.
It’s going to take a major surge for the Nets to earn the right to be favorites in the East again.
