National Basketball Association

Where do Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and the Nets go from here?

Updated Jun. 21, 2021 8:50 p.m. ET

A matter of inches decided Brooklyn's season.

If the tip of Kevin Durant's shoe hadn't brushed the line in the final seconds of regulation in Game 7, the Brooklyn Nets could very well be in the Eastern Conference finals in place of the Milwaukee Bucks.

But, as Durant put it in his postgame news conference, his "big-ass foot stepped on the line," and the game went to overtime.

From there, Durant and the Nets ran out of steam, mustering just two points via Bruce Brown in Saturday's 115-111 overtime loss.

James Harden went 0-for-2 in the extra frame, while Durant went 0-for-6.

Just like that, the East's second-seed ⁠— which finished the regular season 48-24 ⁠— was out of the NBA playoffs.

With all due credit to Giannis Antetokounmpo & Co., Brooklyn's bouncing out of the playoffs came as quite a shock.

The "Big 3" of Durant, Harden and Kyrie Irving had been building toward at least a run to the Finals, if not to win it all. In the wake of Brooklyn's exit, the "First Things First" crew reviewed what went wrong for the Nets and where the team goes from here.

For Nick Wright, the failure fell at the feet of head coach Steve Nash.

"We also have to talk about one of the big reasons they didn't win Game 7," Wright said, "which is they are a poorly coached team. … Most important, in overtime, when the entire world knows Kevin Durant is gassed … that's what timeouts are for, buddy. Call timeout, draw up a play, give KD two minutes to sit down and breathe, and maybe you win. Coaching still matters."

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Durant played all 53 minutes of Game 7 after clocking 40:22 in Game 6 and 48 in Game 5. Injuries played a huge part in why Nash was so dependent on his superstar.

Harden was hampered by a balky hamstring, as evidenced by his averages of 30.6% shooting from the field and 19.2% from distance in Games 5, 6 and 7. Irving missed that trio of games, along with the bulk of Game 4, after suffering a right ankle sprain in that contest.

Injuries were a common thread in most of Brooklyn's season, with each of the "Big 3" missing time throughout the year.

For Brandon Marshall, the injury bug doomed the Nets.

As for the future, Kevin Wildes is beyond bullish for Brooklyn.

Much of that has to do with Durant, who not only managed to fully recover after missing 2019-20 with an Achilles injury but also somehow improved.

"The big question coming into this season was: ‘Hey, is KD going to get back to here?’ Somehow, a two-time Finals MVP went to here," Wildes said, gesturing to a higher level.

Expectations for the Nets were high when they acquired Harden in January, but the team ultimately fell short.

With an offseason to jell and presumably get healthy, Year 2 of Brooklyn's "Big 3" could be championship or bust ⁠— by any measure.

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