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Kendrick Perkins has fired shots at Kyrie Irving, who claimed NBA teams are playing 'playoff adjustment basketball' against the Brooklyn Nets. The former Boston Celtics and OKC Thunder man has not been afraid to be critical of teams and players since becoming an NBA analyst.
His most recent tweet came on the back of former teammate Irving's statement following the Nets' disappointing loss to the Sacramento Kings. The seven-time All-Star scored only 14 points on 33.3% shooting from the field during the game.
Apart from Nic Claxton, the Brooklyn Nets' rotation looked short of its best and let the Kings take control of the game in the second half. After going into halftime with an eight-point lead, many would have predicted the Nets to come out on top. However, the youngsters from the Kings were resilient and fought to put an end to their seven-game losing streak.
The loss was the Nets' sixth consecutive defeat and has pushed them to sixth place in the East. When asked how he felt about the team's recent run, Kyrie Irving replied in a post-game interview saying:
"From our side it just looks as though we can overpower teams with just our talent alone, but that's not going to get it done. We gotta continue to do the little things and when teams are out there playing against us they know us very well and they're making playoff adjustments."
Kendrick Perkins, who shared locker rooms with James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant over his career, knows what the trio are capable of. However, after hearing Irving's post-game interview, he couldn't contain his disappointment and sent out a tweet saying:
"Kings ain’t been to the playoffs is damn near 20 years! How the hell they know anything about Playoff adjustments?! Don’t mind me tho and Carry on…"
Kyrie Irving and James Harden's low scoring night leads to a Broklyn Nets loss against the struggling Sacramento Kings
The Brooklyn Nets came into the encounter on the back of a five-game losing streak but were confident of getting a positive result in this game as both Kyrie Irving and James Harden were set to take the floor. After a strong first quarter, it looked like Brooklyn would walk home with a win, but things slowly started turning in favor of the Kings.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 12 points with 11 assists and four steals. He orchestrated the game well and led the charge for the Kings. Despite going down by eight into halftime, they pulled their way back and put on a good show to give themselves a chance at a win.
Playing at home, the crowd was also pumped up and began influencing proceedings. The Kings have one of the worst defensive ratings in the league but did a phenomenal job of locking up the Nets' two superstars. Harden scored a mere four points, while Irving scored only 14, which was one of the main reasons behind the team's struggles.
Sacramento reduced the deficit to three points at the end of the third quarter and never looked back as they contained the Nets to 15 points in the fourth and scored 29 to grab a 112-101 win on the night. The Brooklyn Nets next face off against the Utah Jazz on Friday. They will be hoping to grab a win there and put an end to their six-game losing streak to revive their campaign.
