The Nets held a players-only meeting Saturday at Barclays Center after Brooklyn's 125-116 loss to the Indiana Pacers handed the team its fourth straight defeat as they dig deeper into a 1-5 hole.
"You want us to be excited about that?" Kevin Durant said rhetorically to a reporter when asked to describe the locker-room mood. "Yeah, of course, we're pissed. We enjoy basketball. We like to win, though. So of course when we lose the game it's going to be a somber mood in the locker room. It'll change once we start playing some good basketball. We've got a lot of basketball to be played ahead of us."
Durant downplayed the notion that the message from Nets head coach, Steve Nash, was no longer getting through to the players after Indiana (3-4) became the latest opponent to torch Brooklyn (1-5).
"Nah, that's on the individuals," said Durant, who scored 26 points on 8-of-20 shooting in 39 minutes. "We've got to take pride individually. Coach could so much, tell you what to do. ... End of the day, we've got to know coaching matters, chemistry, all that stuff matters. But at the end of the day, we're individuals. So we've got to be better as individuals and then we'll bring that to the group and figure it out. But each guy's just got to dig down deeper and just be better. That's just what it is."
Ben Simmons' sentiments aligned with Durant's comments.
"It was honest," Simmons said. "We had a conversation that, obviously, I'm not going to talk about. But it was honest, and that's what winning teams do -- hold each other accountable, be able to be open and talk to your teammates and respect that and be men."
The Nets blew their largest lead of 10 -- 36-26 with roughly nine minutes left in the second quarter -- before the Pacers took the game over.
"We all have one goal is to win," said Simmons, who contributed nine points on 3-of-7 shooting while adding eight rebounds and nine assists in 36 minutes. "We're all competitors. I believe everybody on this team is competitors and wants to win and be here. So we have to have those conversations and be honest and open about it."
After a day to hit the reset button, the Nets resume play with a pivotal rematch Monday against Indiana.
"F--k yeah, I believe it -- I believe we can be the best team in the NBA, I believe that," Simmons said.