NEW YORK – Brooklyn Nets stars Kevin Durant and James Harden are playing at an impressive pace – and the history books back that up.
On Monday night, they became the first duo to score 30 plus points in each of their first two games with a franchise when the Nets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 125-123. Durant had 30 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, while Harden had 34 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists.
That came on the heels of Harden’s 30-point triple-double performance on Saturday against the visiting Orlando Magic in his Nets-debut, a game in which Durant scored 42.
Since Harden’s arrival in Brooklyn, Nets’ coaches and management have said repeatedly that they would rely on the prior chemistry Harden and Durant had built up during their tenure with the Oklahoma City Thunder. After all, Harden hasn’t had a single practice session with Brooklyn yet.
Harden said their maturity has further fostered their synergy on the court.
“We were young in Oklahoma City,” said Harden, 31, who played with Durant, 32, on the Thunder from 2009 to 2012. “We’re grown men now. We know what we want. We really know the game of basketball now. We’re not those young guys who want to run and just shoot and dunk all day long. And then for me I sit back and know. “I what player Kevin Durant is. He’s one of the best players to ever touch a basketball.”
According to ESPN’s Stats & Information survey, Harden and Durant together scored 138 points in their first two games together in Brooklyn. Those are the second-most combined points for teammates in their first two games along with a franchise in NBA history, after Wilt Chamberlain and York Larese had 151 with the Philadelphia Warriors in 1961. Chamberlain scored 139 points out of 151. , with Larese scoring 0. in their first game together and 12 in their second.
Durant said he’s not surprised how quickly he and Harden get on the track.
“We’ve been through a lot in this competition,” said Durant. “Experienced a lot, and for us to now bring it together and combine what we’ve learned in this time and try to play great basketball, I think it was pretty seamless for us.
“It was an easy transition, especially as James handled the ball a lot. So we’re still trying to find our way and we still have room to improve, but it’s a solid start.”
And on Tuesday, the Nets are expected to add one more ingredient to the mix, as Kyrie Irving will practice for the first time in more than two weeks.