James Harden, Kyrie Irving getting the hang of playing together
Kyrie Irving is glad James Harden is asserting himself on the court and said the Nets need to take it "one day at a time." Credit: TNS/Jason Miller
Another game, another 89 points from the Nets’ Big 3 in a 132-128 overtime win Wednesday night in Atlanta. It marked the Nets’ third straight win, but it was only the fifth game in which Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden played together since Irving returned to the lineup after missing Harden’s first two games with the Nets.
The key question when the Nets acquired Harden was how his relationship with Irving would evolve in the backcourt, and the early results have provided a fascinating glimpse into how two ball-dominant point guards are trying to develop their chemistry and instincts about when to assert themselves.
In his first two games without Irving, Harden scored 32 and 34 points. In their first three together, Irving outscored Harden 37-21, 38-19 and 28-12 as Harden focused on playmaking with an average of 11.3 assists. In the past two games together, Harden has been more assertive, outscoring Irving 20-16 and 31-26 and still averaging 11.5 assists.
The win over the Hawks was the most effective overall performance by the Nets’ backcourt superstars, and Irving loved the more aggressive Harden. "That’s who he is," Irving said. "We just want him to come into this group and not so much think about fitting in but just be who he is. I think all of us realize that we still have a level to get to individually and then collectively as a group. It’s just that we humble ourselves to know . . . all we’re focused on is going out there and leaving it out on the floor."
The Nets will be back at it against the Thunder on Friday night in Oklahoma City, and coach Steve Nash is settling into a rotation in which he uses Harden as the point guard with the second unit. Against the Hawks, Irving had 11 points while playing the entire first quarter as Harden sat four minutes. Harden had 16 second-quarter points while playing the bulk of that period.
Both played the entire third period except for a one-minute rest for Harden, but Irving sat the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. Harden played the entire period and scored nine points as the second unit, including Bruce Brown, Jeff Green and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, together with Harden and starter Joe Harris, put together a 16-4 run that turned the game around.
"When we needed stops we got stops, especially that unit in the fourth quarter with Bruce and Joe and Jeff and TLC doing an unbelievable job of just being feisty, rebounding the basketball and creating energy," Harden said. "That was the turning point."
Both Irving and Harden played the full overtime, with Irving scoring four points and Harden hitting the clinching two foul shots. Irving said the key to their success was trust and how well they complemented each other.
"We don’t want to take this for granted," Irving said of the opportunity facing the Big 3. "We know this doesn’t happen very often. Very lucky. Very grateful to be playing with guys that have this much experience and are all-world players. One day at a time."
Notes & quotes: The Nets on Thursday signed 6-10 free-agent center Norvel Pelle to improve their frontcourt depth. Pelle played in 24 games with the 76ers last season, averaging 2.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 9.7 minutes per game.
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
