Brooklyn Nets: Nets struggling without Caris LeVert in the lineup

The Brooklyn Nets are in a bit of a free fall as of late and it is not a coincidence that it began to happen right after Caris LeVer’t injury happened.

The Brooklyn Nets are still in a developmental year and with the way Caris LeVert was playing before he got injured, things were going smoothly, well, they were at least on track.

Now, the Nets enter Monday night’s game at home vs the Cavaliers in a bit of a free fall.

For those that do not remember, the Caris LeVert injury happened on November 12 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minnesota.

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The injury itself is pretty gruesome, so if you want to see it, and can handle graphic injuries, look it up yourself.

But, at the end of the day, and even after the injury turned out to be way less than what it initially seemed to be, the season goes on.

Pre-injury, LeVert was on a tear.

He was finally living up to the hype that the Nets built upon him. Kenny Atkinson’s work as a developmental guru was finally being on display.

Almost too much.

Since LeVert went down for the foreseeable future on November 12, the Nets also seemed to go down as a team.

Since that day, the Nets are 2-8. That is a very lackluster 10 game stretch.

For perspective, the Nets were still floating around in a playoff spot before that. Before the game LeVert went down, they were 6-7.

The thing that is interesting about this whole situation, is how little we realized just how well LeVert was doing.

Even now, we can look at how well D’Angelo Russell is playing and take it with a pinch of salt because the Nets still aren’t winning very many games.

LeVert was still developing, but clearly still making a massive difference on the Nets. For the opposition, that is scary.

It just goes to show how quickly it derailed the Nets’ season too. The injury felt like a big loss at the time, but becoming crystal clear now.

Maybe this whole thing is just a coincidence. LeVert’s stats are honestly not all that impressive this season. They don’t match the value he is proving to have. He still leads the team in points per game, but that is really it.

What LeVert brought, was clearly just being another scoring threat. That is the most underrated thing in the NBA right now.

The Nets have lost a lot of games closely as of late. They lost in double OT to the Grizzlies over the weekend too.

So, many of these games were one to two basket swings. That is with D’Angelo Russell really being the only threat. Spencer Dinwiddie has his role with this team, but clearly not a massive, consistent difference maker.

LeVert was a scoring threat, pesky enough on defense, and was charismatic. He is the guy they are developing and was making huge strides.

Clearly, the Nets might not have been very good with or without Caris LeVert.

But, what I am saying, is that it is not a coincidence that the Nets began to struggle mightily without him being healthy.

With him, it would be fair to say the Nets could be at 10 or 11 wins right now, in the tight Eastern Conference, that is a huge difference.

The Nets are going to need to learn how to win more close games without their biggest scoring threat. If they don’t, the turn of the New Year can be very insignificant for the Nets and their fans.

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