For a while, it felt like a genuine party at Barclays Center Thursday night. For a while, the undermanned Nets were toying with the undermanned Heat, scoring whenever they wanted, wherever they wanted, however they wanted. 

For a while, it felt like Kevin Durant had done more than bring his talent back to the Nets after a 21-game absence; he had brought back the Nets’ mojo, too. They scored 67 first-half points. They led by as many as 16. Chants of “M! V! P!” came raining down on Durant, and KD seemed to be enjoying himself quite nicely, thank you. 

And then, well … 

And then, 2021-22 happened. 

Which is to say: since the new season dawned, and especially since the New Year broke, just about anything that could happen to befuddle the Nets has happened. The Heat caught them early in the third quarter, raced past them, held them off, pulled away. It ended 113-107. It dragged the Nets down to .500 on the year, at 32-32, for the first time since they were 3-3 in October. 

“We should feel disappointed,” said Jacque Vaughn, standing in for Steve Nash again while Nash endures health and safety protocols. “We should’ve won this game.” 

Unless things break in the best way possible, that seems destined to be the title of the 2021-22 Nets’ highlight video. Should’ve won this game. Could’ve won that game. The Nets’ high-water mark came two days after Christmas, when they finished a holiday two-step sweep in L.A. and found themselves at 23-9. They were still 29-16 after beating the Spurs Jan. 21, their second win in three games after Durant hurt his knee. 

And then, well … 

Eleven straight losses. A 5-16 record during Durant’s sabbatical. And a whole new team upon his re-emergence, Durant shaking hands for the first time Thursday night with Andre Drummond, Goran Dragic and Seth Curry. And for a while, yes, it sure looked like a page had been turned. 

Except it turned out to be the same chapter of the same book we’ve been reading all season. 

Game after game. Day after day. Week after week. Loss after loss. 

“I mean, we are cutting it close,” Durant had said in the morning. “There’s under 20 games left in the season. But that’s the situation we are in that’s the circumstances we are in. We have to go out there and figure it out.” 

He tried. He certainly helped. If he wasn’t at his sharpest, he was still 31 points on 10-for-21 from the field, walking on the floor after six idle weeks. But now it’s down to 18 games for the Nets, and don’t look now but they have only one fewer loss than the Wizards, presently sitting on the wrong side of the Eastern Conference cut line in 11th place. 

It’s still probably not going to be that dire. They get Kyrie Irving back the next three games, crucial trips to Boston, Charlotte and, of course, Philadelphia. At some point Ben Simmons will join the band. But it’s also true that it’s becoming less and less likely that they can avoid the play-in round, since they wake up Friday five full games out of sixth place, presently occupied by Cleveland (36-26). 

“There’s no moral victories,” Durant said after his return. “I feel great, and I’m only going to get better and more comfortable out there and carry more of a load when I get more games under my belt. I felt solid.” 

If they have one useful weapon on their side, it is this: an almost irrational belief that they can dig their way out of whatever hole they create for themselves. Up and down the roster, no matter who does the talking, they all believe this: they are good enough when whole, when healthy, to do whatever’s necessary to salvage the season’s grandest ambitions. 

Having Durant back certainly helps. Those nights when Irving is part of the plan, those help too, and it’s games like the ones the Nets won in Milwaukee last Saturday that allow them to feel the way they do about themselves. And Simmons is the wildest of all wild cards. It is actually quite easy to talk yourself into this the way they talk themselves into it. 

And then, well … 

Eighteen games left. If they are going to rescue themselves from this fix Indiana Jones-style, it has to happen sometime. And it has to happen soon.