James Harden hasn’t been his aggressive self since coming out of Houston, and he was still trying to cross that thin line of his new team. But with Kevin Durant finally looking mortal for the first time, Harden carried the Nets to victory.
Harden closed a fourth-quarter nail-bite with the Eastern Conference champions, took what was a tight game and turned it into a 98-85 blast from Miami on Monday night at Barclays Center.
While Brooklyn clung to an 81-80 edge that was weak at best, Harden and Irving put in a 15-0 run that drove away the shortened Heat.
“Huge for us. We didn’t have the best scoring night offensively, we just stayed with it defensively, made it very, very difficult for them, ”said Harden. “We didn’t play well offensively, but defensively I thought we were active there, we fought shots and made it harder for them as a team.”
Harden finished with 20 points, eight assists and four rebounds, while Durant added 20 and 13 boards. While Harden hasn’t really been his typical self since coming out of Houston in a four-team mega deal while Durant struggled from the floor, it was Harden who scored 10 points in that pivotal run.
Just be aggressive. I was not very aggressive during the game. That zone has shaken us a little bit in the sense that we want to slow down. They were going to get some assets and I got a little loose, so my teammates give me the confidence to shoot the basketball, be aggressive and that’s it.
“I’m figuring it out, it’s only been five games and we have a long season for that. Once we all find that balance, our team will be much better. But it is still early. As we learn, we try to get as many victories as possible. It’s a great feeling when you can do both. “
Before the game, Steve Nash had admitted that he wanted Harden to be more aggressive. On Monday, the three-time-scoring champion had little choice.
Durant struggled through 6 of the 21 shootings, including a 2 of 13 starts. But the Nets still found a way to win.
“I just wanted to be a bit more aggressive. You clearly know Kevin and Kyrie [Irving] are really good scorers. They normally take easy pictures they missed, ”said Harden. “We wanted to finish the fourth quarter on the right foot and we did it defensively.”
Brooklyn’s maligned defense held Miami to just 14 in the fourth quarter, as the Nets won for the sixth time in eight games.
The Heat (6-10) played without Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro; but they defended and beat like all Erik Spoelstra teams. And they tested the Nets with 2-3 zones and 3-2 zones, scoring Brooklyn’s streak of 12 consecutive games scoring more than 110 points.
“They certainly threw the game out and made it a physical game and were able to stay in the game until late in the fourth game,” said Durant. “Our defense held on tight throughout the game and once we were able to start making a few shots in the fourth inning, we were able to drive away, but our defense definitely won us this game.”
Brooklyn came out colder than the weather. The Nets missed their first five shots to fall into a quick 8-0 hole and set the tone for much of the night. They shot just 4-for-21 in the first quarter, missing their first 11 tries from behind the arc, until Joe Harris finally hit from deep with 9:30 left in the half.
The Nets were still down 45-38 with a minute to go before half-time – and 61-56 in the third – before finally starting to get some traction.
Clinging to an 81-80 lead, Harden drilled a step-back 3 with 4:59 over, then a lay-up to push the lead to six. After Harden’s much maligned defense came out big on the other side and Kendrick blocked Nunn, Irving’s bucket made it 88-80 with 3:54 to play.
Harden and Harris added 3-pointers to put it at 16 and stabbed a dagger in Miami.
“Boys were tired,” Nash said. ‘We couldn’t buy a basket. We had a lot of good looks. Tired of shooting the ball, but also tired because we stagnated a bit against the zone after a really good performance against the other night. In general, it was just the fact that they were hanging there, and James stepped up and took a few big shots along the piece. “