Nets' Big 3 will need to brush up on chemistry before playoffs

There’s no question that the Nets have plenty of star power.

There is a big question, however, about whether they can develop the chemistry they need to be a championship team without their Big 3 having played together for long stretches during the season.

Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving could be the most formidable trio to team up in the history of the game. The trio has played just 186 minutes and seven starts together, though, because of injuries, COVID protocols and personal reasons.

Durant is back and looking healthy after missing 23 games with a hamstring injury. Harden (hamstring) is out for at least four more games. Considering what a workhorse Harden has been during Durant’s absence, it wouldn’t be surprising if he is out for longer than those 10 days. No one, after all, thought Durant would be gone for nearly two months when he went down with his hamstring injury.

Reintegrating a starting player into the rotation late in the season is never easy.

"As far as time and chemistry, it’s not ideal," coach Steve Nash said. "At the same time, it’s not a concern that we worry about. We worry about the things that we can control. When [Harden] is healthy and ready to go is kind of out of our hands.

"So we’re not going to spend a ton of time worrying about the negative ramifications. We’re going to spend time adapting in the interim and excited for when he does return."

Durant believes some chemistry can be established without the complete team on the floor and doesn’t want anyone back until they are "110%." Still, he said it’s important that the Big 3 get some time together before the playoffs.

"We got veterans that know how to play the game of basketball," Durant said. "We have a coaching staff where most of the guys played and know how to explain the game in simple terms. I think that will help us going forward especially with guys being out.

"As far as late in the season, we want everybody and need everybody on the court to see how this stuff actually works."

A lack of chemistry can sink the most talented teams. The 2003-04 Lakers were loaded, with Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton and Karl Malone. But Bryant and O’Neal spent a good deal of the season taking shots at each other and there always seemed to be a new controversy behind every corner. The Pistons team that beat them in the NBA Finals didn’t have even one superstar, but they had a solid leader in Chauncey Billups and were close as a team.

The players on this Nets team genuinely seem to like each other. They should, given that the star players themselves were instrumental in building the team. Still, it would be helpful to get a solid couple of weeks for everyone to develop that on-court chemistry.

"We have work to do," Blake Griffin said. "We have to focus, put the time in and make sure we clean up the areas we need to clean up. You’ve seen a lot of talent on teams lose before. That’s not the locker room’s mindset."

By Barbara Barker

barbara.barker@newsday.commeanbarb

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.