With the injury of Kevin Durant and the regular unavailability of Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn will necessarily expect more from James Harden. The former Rockets go-to-guy took responsibility for the Nets’ victory at San Antonio last night.
Alongside Kyrie Irving and his 24 points, “The Beard” offered his 70th career triple-double, peaking at 37 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists to allow his team to win 117 – 102.
James Harden first sought to involve his teammates in the first half by, for example, shining Kessler Edwards and Dayron Sharpe before feeding LaMarcus Aldridge. Then, as San Antonio did more than resist, notably pointing at +4 with 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter, the back started to be more aggressive. And everything changed.
“He found his rhythm and he found the means to have a big impact on the match. He went in the paint, of course he took good shots and made his shots 3-pointers. When he plays with that variety in his game, he revs up pretty quickly and with ease.”, said Patty Mills, who was celebrating his return to San Antonio alongside LaMarcus Aldridge.
A question of rhythm
The back of the Nets thus lined up four baskets including a dunk and a drive with the fault as a bonus to reverse the trend. The Nets were thus able to make the hole and let him conclude his demonstration with two 3-point missiles at the end of the game, including his signature step-back to finish the job.
“It feels good to get back to my game. I wanted to be aggressive and play by making the right choices and I think I did that throughout the match. Our spirit was good tonight. We started with the desire to be good in defense after our last difficult game and we manage to hold them to 102 points., did he declare after the game.
Accustomed to exploding the counters, James Harden has been less prominent since his arrival at the Nets and he has had his worst season in scoring for ten years. The context will allow him to do more and this game will help him find the rhythm that was his, while he will find himself without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant during home games until the return of injury of KD.
“I’m definitely back. Over the year, so much has happened in our team, between injuries and of course the Kyrie Irving situation, so it’s really hard to find rhythm. That’s what we’re all looking for. We have to keep fighting, take one match after another. There will inevitably come a time when we will all meet together and we can take a big step forward. But for the moment, we continue to progress. The young people continue to grow, and we advance with each match. “
| James Harden | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2009-10 | OKAY | 76 | 23 | 40.3 | 37.5 | 80.8 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 9.9 |
| 2010-11 | OKAY | 82 | 27 | 43.6 | 34.9 | 84.3 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 12.2 |
| 2011-12 | OKAY | 62 | 31 | 49.1 | 39.0 | 84.6 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 16.8 |
| 2012-13 | HOO | 78 | 38 | 43.8 | 36.8 | 85.1 | 0.8 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 5.8 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 25.9 |
| 2013-14 | HOO | 73 | 38 | 45.6 | 36.6 | 86.6 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 6.1 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 3.6 | 0.4 | 25.4 |
| 2014-15 | HOO | 81 | 37 | 44.0 | 37.5 | 86.8 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 7.0 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 27.4 |
| 2015-16 | HOO | 82 | 38 | 43.9 | 35.9 | 86.0 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 6.1 | 7.5 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 4.6 | 0.6 | 29.0 |
| 2016-17 | HOO | 81 | 36 | 44.0 | 34.7 | 84.7 | 1.2 | 7.0 | 8.1 | 11.2 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 5.7 | 0.5 | 29.1 |
| 2017-18 ★ | HOO | 72 | 35 | 44.9 | 36.7 | 85.8 | 0.6 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 8.8 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 30.4 |
| 2018-19 | HOO | 78 | 37 | 44.2 | 36.8 | 87.9 | 0.9 | 5.8 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 0.7 | 36.1 |
| 2019-20 | HOO | 68 | 37 | 44.4 | 35.5 | 86.5 | 1.0 | 5.5 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 4.5 | 0.9 | 34.3 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 44 | 37 | 46.6 | 36.2 | 86.1 | 0.8 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 10.8 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 24.6 |
| 2020-21 * | BRK | 36 | 37 | 47.1 | 36.6 | 85.6 | 0.8 | 7.7 | 8.5 | 10.9 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 24.6 |
| 2020-21 * | HOO | 8 | 36 | 44.4 | 34.7 | 88.3 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 10.4 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 24.8 |
| 2021-22 | BRK | 39 | 37 | 41.6 | 33.5 | 86.3 | 1.0 | 7.1 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 4.8 | 0.7 | 22.6 |
| Total | 916 | 35 | 44.3 | 36.2 | 85.9 | 0.8 | 4.8 | 5.6 | 6.7 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 25.0 | |
