NEW YORK – After five games with the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden begins to put together his pass or score Rubik’s Cube.
After scoring just 10 points through three quarters against the Miami Heat on Monday, Harden scored 10 points in the last quarter, finishing with 20 points and eight assists in the Nets ’98-85 victory. Attempting to solve his role puzzle, Harden said, is “the best part” of his first few weeks in Brooklyn.
“I played in a role for eight years, controlling the ball and dominating the ball,” Harden said, referring to his time in Houston with the Rockets. “Now it’s a different experience for me, but it’s still great.”
Harden came off his lowest-scoring performance in a calendar year. On Saturday, he had only 12 points in the first of the team’s two games against the Heat, but the Nets took comfort in his facilitation. Harden got into Monday’s game, finishing double digits in every game he’d played for Brooklyn.
Kevin Durant, who finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, said Harden’s performance against Miami was the “perfect balance” of scoring and facilitating. “It feels like he just transferred to a new school and he’s trying to figure out the curriculum,” Durant said. “And it will take a while to figure out who your teammates are, what your rotations are in the game, when to be aggressive, when to score, pass.”
He continued, “As the scorer and the center of your offense, sometimes the balance between score and pass – you have to sort that out every night.”
Steve Nash said he is confident that with more time to build up chemistry and get in better shape, Harden will continue to improve in finding that balance.
“I’m lucky to be able to do more than one thing on the basketball court,” said Harden. “So it’s fun. As I said before, it’s a game within the game, you have to choose when to be aggressive, when to get your shooters going, when to let KD and Kyrie run.” “