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When the Nets acquired James Harden in a mid-January commerce with the Rockets to pair him with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as a set of Large 3 superstars, it underlined their dedication to go all- in to pursue an NBA title this season, however it raised questions on how effectively three ball-dominant stars may work collectively and whether or not they may make the mandatory sacrifices.
In Harden’s first 23 video games with the Nets, they’re 17-6, he’s main the league in assists after shifting his emphasis from scoring to playmaking, and he has put himself squarely within the dialog for NBA MVP.
Throughout that point, the three superstars have performed collectively solely seven instances, however the Nets went 10-1 heading into the All-Star break though Durant performed solely a kind of video games. That defines how effectively Harden has performed.
“To this point, so good,” Harden mentioned Wednesday evening after the Nets blew out the Rockets in Harden’s first sport in Houston for the reason that commerce. “All the pieces I signed up for. Prime to backside, it’s been nice. Adversity has hit us . . . we’re affected by accidents, guys out and in of lineups, loopy, bizarre issues occurring. However I feel we’ve fought by means of adversity and we’re in a very good place.
“Now we all know one another a little bit bit higher. Now it’s time to get some relaxation, deal with your physique and be able to go. The second half goes to be enormous for us by way of how briskly we are able to get off to an awesome begin. Everyone goes by means of the identical factor. There’s no excuses, and we’re not right here to make any.”
Within the earlier three seasons, Harden led the NBA in scoring with averages of 30.4, 36.1 and 34.3 factors per sport. In his transient time with the Nets, Harden nonetheless is averaging 25.5 factors, however he has improved his three-point accuracy to 42.2%, his rebounding to eight.7 and his assists to 11.4 (a league-leading 11.1, together with his video games with the Rockets).
Nets coach Steve Nash mentioned Harden’s playmaking capability was apparent earlier than he coached him. “He’s such a superb distributor and playmaker and makes the sport straightforward for others and makes others higher,” Nash mentioned. “For me, that was no shock.
“What’s been a bit — I don’t wish to say shocking — however I didn’t know [about] his patterns of habits, his management, his professionalism, being a very good teammate, all these issues. He’s been excellent, not just for us as coaches however for his teammates to have a participant that gifted who ticks all these bins as effectively.”
Earlier than the commerce, Harden was roundly criticized in Houston for asking for a commerce and for quitting on the group. It was an unsightly ending after eight earlier seasons of stellar play.
After his eighth triple-double with the Nets helped them blow out the Rockets, Harden was requested by the Houston media if his management model is any completely different with the Nets than it was with the Rockets.
“The identical,” Harden mentioned. “It’s simply I get credit score now. Beforehand, I wasn’t getting credit score. Similar management, identical individual. Haven’t modified, not one bit.”
Nicely, even Harden must admit that he has modified by way of believing what the forged round him can accomplish. The injured Durant is sitting out the All-Star Sport on Sunday evening — he’s captain of 1 group and selected Irving and Harden — however as soon as that showcase is over, the Nets’ Large 3 can have one goal popping out of the break.
“We all know what we’re attempting to perform, and we all know our positioning on the courtroom on each ends of the ball,” Harden mentioned of how effectively the Nets have executed their rules of late. “Including KD again, including Jeff [Green], including TLC [Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot] goes to deliver extra pleasure and we’re going to have extra recent legs.”
Well being is the highest precedence for the Nets, who path the 76ers by a half-game for first place within the Japanese Convention. “Kevin Durant is among the all-time greats, so so as to add him to our group will make us higher routinely,” Nash mentioned. “However we nonetheless can enhance with our continuity of hopefully having some well being for an prolonged interval.
“A giant half is realizing who you’re enjoying with and how one can talk and make issues simpler. That’s the enjoyable.”
@GregLogan1
Greg Logan has labored for Newsday since 1982 protecting a wide selection of sports activities and occasions, at present together with the Brooklyn Nets beat.
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