Do the Brooklyn Nets need chemistry to contend for a title?

When Kevin Durant’s hamstring injury put the Brooklyn Nets’ Big Three experiment on hold after just seven games, there wasn’t any reason for the franchise to panic about ensuring the proper amount of time for this new trio to gel.

KD’s prolonged absence began on Feb. 14 following Brooklyn’s 28th game of the season. Another 44 contests would certainly be enough for Durant to not only return to the court fully healthy but also offer plenty of opportunities to build on a relationship that would have to withstand the rigors of playoff basketball to guide the Nets to a title.

Time appeared on Brooklyn’s side, but that is no longer the case. Durant returned on April 7, the same day James Harden was ruled out with a hamstring strain. Though Harden is due for a return sooner rather than later, he’ll return to a team that will once again be without its leading man after Durant suffered a thigh contusion in Miami on Sunday that is serious enough to at least keep him out of Tuesday’s matchup against the Pelicans.

With only 15 games remaining and two superstars still out of the lineup, Brooklyn’s health takes precedence over all other concerns. But assuming the roster reassembles at full strength before the playoffs, chemistry concerns for a trio that, despite only logging 186 minutes together, is supposed to power a championship run warrants a discussion this late in the season.

There’s no denying the talent of the Brooklyn Nets, but they’re running out of time to develop that which might have a hand in their title odds.

The easiest answer to this question is to act like it doesn’t exist, a proposition not as crazy as it sounds. Never before have we seen a trio as potent as the one currently laying dormant in Brooklyn. In those 186 minutes, the Nets scored at a rate that would far outpace the league’s overall leader on the season.

Chemistry doesn’t seem necessary for a team with three of this generation’s greatest scorers. Each can simply take turns putting the defense to work, removing the need to iron out sets most teams require to generate efficient offense. These three are efficient offenses unto themselves and have proven the ability to function as such alongside each other.

In an early February win over the LA Clippers, Harden and Irving each scored 10 in the final frame while Durant scored nine. One of the better defenses in the league was overwhelmed by three players who ensured Brooklyn’s offense never stopped attacking at full speed.

Sometimes, the postseason simply boils down to top-level talent, and there’s no denying that the Nets have more of it than any other team in the league. But a similar sentiment was held for last season’s Clippers, a team picked by many to win the championship before the 2019-20 season before flaming out in the playoffs.

Even as LA slogged through a regular season filled with injuries and load management that kept all the core guys from playing significant minutes together, there was still a belief that the two-way talents of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George complimented by a loaded supporting cast would ultimately be enough to get the job done regardless.

A blown 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the second round suggested otherwise. Maybe the bubble robbed the Clippers of the homecourt that could’ve swung the series in their favor, but the flaws nearly everyone — and especially they — kicked down the road finally came back to bite them at the worst time.

LA was talented but it wasn’t a cohesive unit. The players never learned to rely on each other because they never got the playing time that offered that opportunity, ultimately playing into the playoff demise.

Having that bond in place matters when it’s tested amid the chaos of the postseason. An identity typically forged during the regular season is leaned on in tight moments.

With incredible amounts of roster upheaval at various points in the season, Brooklyn doesn’t have any of that. Maybe it doesn’t need to. Maybe a simplistic offense that lets Durant, Irving and Harden rotate isolating in their preferred spots can be enough. If any three players can be that good, a trio comprised of two former MVPs and the owner of one of the greatest clutch shots in NBA history would certainly be given pretty favorable odds.

The Nets are hoping that’s the case. With each passing day, it’s looking like they won’t have anything else to hang their title hopes on.