Before the Nets took the floor in Cleveland on Wednesday, Kevin Durant called the team into a huddle and sent a message.
“Let’s start something beautiful,” Durant said.
What started as something beautiful ended in an ugly mess.
After making their first 10 shots to open the game, the Nets collapsed in double-overtime, losing 147-135 to the Cavaliers in what was the first game Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving played in together. Brooklyn’s Big 3 combined for 96 points with Durant scoring 38 and Irving with 37. Harden went on to notch his second triple-double in three games as a Net, finishing with 21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
The loss dropped the Nets to 9-7 and snapped a four-game winning streak. Nobody expected the new-look Nets — a week out from pulling off a blockbuster trade for Harden — to look like a finished product during their debut. But they struggled against the NBA’s worst…