Welcome to the Morning Shootaround, where every weekday you’ll get a fresh, topical column from one of SI.com’s NBA writers: Howard Beck on Mondays, Chris Mannix on Tuesdays, Michael Pina on Wednesdays, Chris Herring on Thursdays and Rohan Nadkarni on Fridays.
In the end—and with potentially series ending injuries to two key players this does feel like the end for Brooklyn—it wasn’t defense or a lack of chemistry that did in the Nets, but a cruel twist of fate. Two, actually. A pulled hamstring for James Harden a minute into the opener of the Nets second round series against Milwaukee.