Kevin Garnett on the Brooklyn Nets: ‘Everybody Here is Embarrassed’

Considered some kind of super-squad in the preseason, the Brooklyn Nets have sputtered to a 3-10 start (and have lost five in a row.) Kevin Garnett says they’re all embarrassed. Per the NY Daily News: “On Sunday, the Nets lost the third quarter, 34-15, which means they’ve been outscored by a combined 96 points in the third quarters of their 10 losses. Maybe Jason Kidd needs to work on those halftime speeches. ‘We’ve got to be the worst team in the league when it comes to third quarters,’ said Kevin Garnett. ‘Unacceptable.’ As for the play of the Kidd’s high-priced starters, Kidd said he should have kept Garnett and Pierce on the bench, leaving in Mason Plumlee, Alan Anderson, Tyshawn Taylor, Mirza Teletovic and Tornike Shengelia. (For the casual fans, yes, those are all Nets.) ‘They deserved to play. I should have let them play the whole game or the whole quarter,’ Kidd said after wrapping up a long meeting with GM Billy King and his two assistant GMs, which they conducted in the hallways of the locker room area. ‘They’re playing, you know, for one another. It’s not perfect but that group that gave us an opportunity by cutting it to eight.’ Detroit’s lead swelled after Garnett and Pierce returned to the game for the final four minutes, although Brooklyn first cut the deficit to five before folding the tent. The Pistons (4-8), losers of seven of nine before Sunday, found a perfect place to get out of a funk. Garnett, who continued his struggles with just four points on 2-of-9 shooting, took responsibility for his effort and benching, saying, ‘If we’re not carrying our weight, then obviously (Kidd) is going to put somebody in that is. It’s tough times right now.’ […] ‘I think everybody here is embarrassed,’ Garnett said.”