The Nets have plenty to accomplish in the absence of Kevin Durant. On Tuesday night Brooklyn was also without Kyrie Irving, which set the stage for the supporting cast to step up.

Unfortunately, it was a mixed bag of inconsistency and sloppy play that certainly provided all those 2021 vibes Nets fans do not want to see resurface.

The starting unit was ineffective but when the bench stepped up to pull the Nets close, Coach Vaughn seemed to hesitate in leaning into what was working. With a combined 32 points in the first and fourth quarters the Nets allowed a bad Spurs team to dictate tempo and hand them their third straight loss.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices