The Brooklyn Nets haven’t gotten off to the start to their 2021-22 season as they had hoped, even considering the absence of Kyrie Irving. At 3-3 entering Sunday night’s game against Detroit, it has been a stop and start affair for the Nets in the first two weeks of the season, but at the least, Kevin Durant has looked like, well, Kevin Durant so far.
KD came into Sunday averaging 28.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game, carrying a significant burden while James Harden works his way back into game shape and makes adjustments to the league’s new rules that have cut into shooting fouls. However, Durant’s outing against Detroit was cut short after 27 minutes when some frustration with Kelly Olynyk led to him throwing a hard elbow up high at the Pistons big man’s head on a screen, which was deemed a Flagrant 2 after review and earned Durant an ejection.
Ah nah KD pic.twitter.com/ybenG829vM
— Talkin’ Nets (@talkin_nets) November 1, 2021
The second replay shows why Durant was tossed, as you can see him load up and put Olynyk on the business end of a forearm shiver to the neck/jaw. This surely came after something aggravated him, but no matter what it was, this was a step too far and he earned his early trip to the locker room. As for the Nets, they were already on cruise control up big on Detroit, so Durant’s absence for the rest of the fourth wasn’t a big deal overall, it just will require KD to dip into his checkbook for a fine from the league on Monday.