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The Brooklyn Nets find themselves in a precarious situation midway through the season. They are wedged between Kyrie Irving's inability to play home games and the team's inconsistent play thus far.
"They don't have a set continuity, now it is even less continuity," Nick Wright said on a recent episode of First Things First. "Originally it was 'we're going to have our big three all year,' then it went to 'Kyrie is going to be out for the year, and we're gonna deal with it.'
"Now, it's 'we have him for road games, and maybe at some point we will have him for home games, so do we really need to work on just the KD/Harden stuff, or is Kyrie going to be there?'"
Brooklyn has struggled with health, as Kevin Durant, James Harden and Irving all missed stretches for one reason or another. But now, with the team close to full strength, the question becomes, "Is Irving's presence on road games a help or a hindrance?"
There's no doubting the talent level of the superstar guard, but the fact remains he's not going to play more than 50% of the team's remaining games. Brooklyn can't build a rhythm when he's in and out of the rotation. Not only does that dampen Irving's ability to be impactful, it hurts the team's flow, too.
Kyrie Irving's kills any potential rhtyhm for the Nets'
"The Nets blew out the No. 1-seeded Bulls — best win of the season, best game they've played all year," Wright said. "And the story is, is Kyrie going to play home games? ... I don't think that's healthy for a team that's trying to win something big."
The Eastern Conference is vastly improved from recent seasons, and teams like the Chicago Bulls have quickly risen to prominence, while the Milwaukee Bucks continue to be serious contenders. Even the teams languishing at the bottom end of the conference are still tough opponents on a nightly basis.
So, a lack of consistency in a rotation is going to get exposed regularly. For every statement win, like Wednesday's romp in Chicago, Brooklyn is going to have a head-scratching, shocking loss – like its loss to the injury-riddled LA Clippers on Jan. 2.
Perhaps Irving's partial return will be enough to galvanize Durant and Harden into a higher level of play. But in all likelihood, the Nets still lack a defensive presence and a true leader on the floor.
For all of the fanfare surrounding their All-Star guard's return, the truth is that Irving has further jumbled the puzzle for Steve Nash and his coaching staff. And it will probably take most of the season to figure out where the pieces go.
Guess the Lakers players!
