Shannon Sharpe defends LeBron James and Kevin Durant missing free throws in clutch time: “Kobe Bryant has missed free throws, Michael Jordan has missed free throws”

The Brooklyn Nets fell to the Dallas Mavericks 96-94 on Monday night after Kevin Durant missed a free throw with an opportunity to tie the game.

The Nets trailed 96-93 when Reggie Bullock fouled Kevin Durant while shooting a 3-pointer with 6.7 seconds left. After making the first free throw, Durant missed the second. He then purposely missed the last while trying to get another shot for Brooklyn. Although Royce O'Neale grabbed the offensive rebound, the Nets didn't get a shot off.

The miss was an unusual occurrence for Durant, who is a careeer 88.5% free-throw shooter, including 93.0% this season.

On FS1’s “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed,” Shannon Sharpe defended Durant.

"KD is human," Sharpe said. "As great a player he is, he’ll miss a shot. It doesn’t change KD's greatness. If he were to get fouled again, I want him on the line."

One bad game does not define a player. This wasn’t even a bad game for Durant, who contributed a team-high 26 points on the evening and is averaging 31.0 points per game.

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The Nets are playing better lately

While the Nets (4-7) try to get away from controversies, the team is beginning to look better. If they had defeated the Mavericks, that would have been their third straight win. The team is 2-2 under coach Jacque Vaughn, who took over after Steve Nash departed last week.

The team is currently without Kyrie Irving, who is serving a minimum five-game suspension imposed by the team. The team is 2-1 without Irving and is being carried by Durant.

Ben Simmons (knee) returned after missing four games and is still trying to find his game. The Nets went 3-1 without Simmons. He had two points, three rebounds, two assists and three fouls in 16 minutes off the bench.

With Seth Curry also returning, maybe Durant can get enough help to keep the team afloat.

If Durant can keep scoring at his current rate and get more contributions from others, they could get their record above .500. That will also depend on Durant staying healthy with the weight of the franchise on his back.

The team was one of the best in the East but went through a 3-17 swoon after he went down with an injured knee last season. Instead, Brooklyn had to use the play-in tournament to reach the playoffs and was the only team swept in the postseason.