And yet Harden couldn't ice a game against the Knicks while CP3 came in clutch to beat a top 3 NBA contender.
Huh? Harden dropped 34 points last night. He nearly had a triple-double. He's also playing well below his best, yet he's still averaging better than CP3 overall. The Suns have a better squad overall than the Nets currently have right now. The Nets have no Kyrie, no Harris.... and players like Brown and Blake are playing much worse this season. They're having to give decent minutes to players like Milsap and Johnson because of the injuries and inconsistent players this season. If Harris was 100% and Kyrie was playing, the Nets wouldn't lose. But it looks like they may struggle in the playoffs this season. Also, Harden still had a triple-double against the Suns, but it was his shooting that let him down. Despite him shooting like ****, he still had as many points as CP3 did.... and CP3 was playing at his best.
I could be looking a bit to into this, but Durant and Harden, both raised by single mothers, don't take popular (Durant) or professional (Harden) criticism that well. I think a big problem Harden had with Paul is that he couldn't discern between professional criticism from a teammate and personal slights against his work ethic and accomplishments. Anyone with a good father knows that you can be berated and dressed down like never before by someone, but it doesn't mean they hate you. At least, that's my theory on why Harden preferred to play with his buddy over a living legend like CP (I'm aware of CP's injury and poor performance in 2019 playoffs, he was still better than WB)
