It didn't, though. He had 11 assists and 19 points. He let Kyrie do his thing and it worked out well, especially in the 4th quarter. He didn't have to do any off ball movement if Kyrie was hitting most of his shots off the isolation. It had nothing to do with his off ball game tonight. Harden could have 20 plus assists tonight if his teammates hit their shots. The Nets must have missed about 15 wide open 3pt shots tonight. You guys have been crying about Harden's off ball game for years, but he isn't an off ball player. He shouldn't be an off ball player, especially when the Nets have 3 of the best isolation players out there. Why should Harden be an off ball player when it'll only hurt the offense. And yet again, Harden didn't get killed on the defense tonight. The majority of the points the Cavs scored were in the paint. Jordan was getting bullied all night, and he couldn't box his guy all night. How the hell did Harden get more rebounds than Jordan? Harden is 6ft 5 and he's 6ft 10.... when most of their points are coming in the paint. Heck, Harris got more rebounds than Jordan. How the hell do you play 26 minutes as the main center and only get 4 rebounds?
This is all exactly right. Watching them is what I imagine the Rockets small ball D would have been like without Tucker or Roco.
@HP3 Its not working. Should the nets trade harden kyrie and durant and start the tank for the next 5 years? Serious question.
That's correct. Even when they have Jordan out there, he's truly awful. He can't seem to box his guy out. He often gets bullied in the paint. Allen was playing as a bench player today and he got 19 points. There's no way you should allow a bench center 19 points in the paint. I know Allen is a decent center, but he's no Embiid. Kyrie played great tonight, but I feel he slows the game down too much. Harden used to get criticized an awful lot for that. But the reason Harden had to do with us is that his role players were not great. Kyrie has KD and Harden next to him. Heck, Green and Harris are decent spot-up shooters. Kyrie tends to look for the shot rather than look for his teammates. He did that an awful lot with the Cavs and the Celtics.... except with the Cavs, he had good role players and a Lebron in his prime next to him, so he could get away with that style. Yet again, not blaming him tonight because he played great. Just saying, his style is going to ruin the flow in the future games, especially with Harden and KD around him. Regardless, the offense isn't the problem. It won't be when you have KD, Kyrie and Harden on your team. It's stopping them from scoring in the paint, which they've failed to do 4 games in a row. Even when KD and Harden were going crazy in the first 2 games, the defense was a problem then. The Nets have to try and bring a very good defensive big man and 2 defensive spot-up shooters with decent height.... otherwise, they ain't making it far in the playoffs.
Harris is good, but he relies on good service from his teammates. Like, Kyrie running the point isn't going to benefit someone like Harris because Kyrie is kinda selfish. On the other hand, having Harden as the point will benefit Harris.
They still have time to get things right, they are setup like the old rockets team, they need couple of 3-D guys like Ariza and Tucker.
The Nets will need time to gel. You are not going to incorporate 3 stars like this and instantly explode. I remember the Heat struggling early on. The Nets will be fine. They need to use this money that they have and bring in some interior paint help. Harden has played very well. He’s definitely bought into team ball and has sacrificed.
