Brooklyn Nets Weekly: No KD? No Problem

Season Record: 19-12

Week Record: 3-0

Player of the Week: James Harden - 30.0 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 12.0 APG, 56.4 FG%, 50.0 3P%, 93.3 FT%

Best Individual Performance: James Harden - 38 Points, 7 rebounds, and 11 assists in 128-124 win against the Phoenix Suns (w/o Kevin Durant & Kyrie Irving)

SUMMARY

What a week for the Brooklyn Nets. Things started on bad terms, with Durant being ruled out for at least the 1st 2 games (against the Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns), but it was far from a bad week. The 1st night of a back-to-back road trip was against a Kings team looking to bounce back after going on a 4-game winning streak followed by a 3-game losing streak. Coach Nash ran a little experiment with the lineup, starting Jeff Green at C, surrounded by Irving, Harden, Joe Harris, and Bruce Brown. The 2 stars took turns in the 1st 2 quarters, putting up 41 points 1st-half points combined. The Nets took over in 3rd, going up by 19 to end the quarter. The game was completely in their hands until a late Kings’ comeback attempt with just under 6 minutes left. Sacramento cut the lead to 15, down from 28, before the Nets kicked things back into gear to close out the game. Irving led the way with a season-high 40 points.

Game 2 of the back-to-back was against the surging Suns who were on a 6-game winning streak. The Nets got off to a terrible start, trailing by 21 at halftime. The Suns’ offense was having its way, scoring 75 points on shooting splits of 64.4/50/100. Brooklyn had a solid 3rd quarter to chip away at the lead, narrowing it to a 12-point deficit. The 4th quarter was essentially Chris Paul vs the Nets as he made 7 of their 9 field goals. The Nets held the Suns (outside of CP3) to 2-11 shooting while they put up 40 points to win the game by 4. What’s most shocking about this game, besides the 4th quarter comeback, is that the Nets beat a good Suns team without Durant AND Irving. Harden led the way with 38 points and 11 assists but he was helped by double-digit scoring performances from Harris and Green in the 4th.

The Nets were now on a 4-game winning streak and going into the Staples Center to face LeBron James and the Anthony Davis-less Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams were down a superstar, but the Nets still held the advantage. Brooklyn would go on to outscore LA in every quarter besides the 4th when the game was already in-hand. It was an impressive win for the Nets, who were able to control the pace and use a balanced offensive attack to neutralize LeBron’s effect on the game. He put up great numbers, with 32 points, 8 boards, and 7 assists, but the Lakers had 66 points outside of him (only 3 double-digit scorers, including LeBron). Brooklyn, on the other hand, had 5 double-digit scorers, led by Harden’s 23 and Harris’ 21.

The Nets now head into the next week on a 5-game winning streak with only 1 of those games featuring all members of their Big 3.

NEXT UP

@ Los Angeles Clippers 2/21/21

vs Sacramento Kings 2/23/21

vs Orlando Magic 2/25/21

vs Dallas Mavericks 2/27/21