While the Brooklyn Nets ‘big three’ of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving continue to build their chemistry on the field, Irving and Harden had a brief talk during practice this week to clarify their roles.
“We determined that now maybe four days ago,” Irving said after the Nets’ 134-117 win over Golden State Warriors on Saturday. “I just looked at him and I said, ‘You’re the point guard, and I’m going to play shooting guard.’ That was as simple as that. “
Irving described the conversation as brief and to the point.
“It’s not a mystical conversation we’ve had,” Irving said.
In Saturday’s game against the Warriors, Harden had 16 assists, raising his average to 11.3 per game since joining the Nets in mid-January. These are the most assists he’s provided since the 2016-17 season, when he led the league with 11.2 assists per game for the Houston Rockets.
“He takes responsibility and does a fantastic job,” said Irving. “It just makes my job easier to just go out and play for free and just play.”
When Harden – a multi-time scoring champion – was added to the Nets mix, a decisive question was: will one basketball be enough?
Harden had discussed with head coach Steve Nash his willingness to play whatever role he needed upon his arrival from Houston.
On Saturday against the Warriors, Harden, Irving and Durant scored or assisted Brooklyn on 100 points. Saturday marked the seventh game the trio played together – including last week’s game with the Toronto Raptors, in which Durant was ripped off the floor early due to the competition’s coronavirus protocols.
Their record is 5-2, including the loss to the Raptors that Durant was unable to finish.
“I came to this team knowing they have two special scorers on this team,” said Harden. “Obviously I score when I need to, but as long as I get everyone involved and Ky (Irving) gets the shots he wants, KD gets the shots he wants, it’s pretty efficient. Offense isn’t the problem for us. “We can score in bunches; it’s defensive. Looks like we’ve been getting a rhythm lately. We just have to keep it up.”