Brooklyn Nets: Thoughts on James Harden’s debut

In his first game with the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden offered us a hint of the new role he could assume with his new team.

It was a tale of two halves for James Harden in his debut with the Brooklyn Nets, a 122-115 victory over the Orlando Magic.

He went through the first 24 minutes a bit passive with eight points on seven shots — for reference, Joe Harris attempted nine — though not the same disinterest he showed in his final game in Houston. This was a classic case of the new kid just trying to fit in and endear himself to his new teammates, hence the seven assists.

Come the second half, Harden’s aggressiveness reared its head. He scored 24 of his 32 total points. He earned 13 of his 15 total free-throw attempts, draining 11. He also chipped in another seven assists to finish with 14 with seven rebounds to end with 12.

By the sound of the final buzzer, Harden had become the first player in NBA history to register a 30-point triple-double in a debut with a new team.

“Man, it was incredible,” Kevin Durant said of his new/old teammate after the game. “You could see him trying to figure out the best way to play early on. Then, he just got into his mode and was being aggressive, trying to score. That opened up the game for the rest of us… He played the same way he’s always played, to be honest. He’s a pass-first guard who’s trying to get his guys good looks. Coach put him at the point and I think that’s his natural position.”

Let’s state the obvious before drawing even the slightest of conclusions from this highly-anticipated game. The Magic are not the caliber of team Brooklyn is measuring itself against in a season where championship expectations have ratcheted up considerably. Kyrie Irving, the third in the mighty trio that validates those hopes, missed his sixth straight game.

Nevertheless, you can’t help but grow giddy about the impact Harden can have on this Nets team, specifically with the passing chops he so brilliantly demonstrated.

Only twice in 2020 did a member of the Nets dish out at least 14 assists. Harden now has that many in the nine games he played in. For all the attention his elite isolation skills draw, Harden remains an incredible facilitator when he embraces that aspect of his game. Remember, he led the league in assists in 2017 with 11.2 a night.

While Kyrie falls short in the hierarchy alongside his All-Star teammates, thus making him the trendy choice to sacrifice in the scoring column, Harden may naturally fall into a playmaking role as the one best suited for it. One of the three has to be conscious to involve others to ensure their engagement levels remain high, and only Harden among them can consistently make passes like the one below to Reggie Perry.

Harden, KD and Kyrie could take up just about all of Brooklyn’s offensive possessions with isolations alone and the results would still probably produce an above-average offense at worst. Crucial to the Nets’ success, however, is leveraging the attention they command to drive defenses even crazier with crisp ball movement that takes advantage of the shooting on the roster.

The play below is reminiscent of the headaches Golden State caused opponents for years. Hesitate on a defensive read for one second and their shooters will light it up from beyond the arc.

Shaded that way by Dwayne Bacon, Harden drives towards the rim before passing it to an open Durant in the opposite corner, abandoned by James Ennis III tagging DeAndre Jordan in the middle to avoid a lob.

Khem Birch properly rotates to KD and Cole Anthony slides over to guard Birch’s man, Jeff Green, along the wing. The problem? Bacon fails to realize his involvement in the play doesn’t stop when his original man gives up the ball. He needs to run out on Anthony’s man at the top of the arc. He doesn’t, and Harris, a player draining nearly 50 percent of his triples, gets an open look he quickly converts.

Not to be outshined on the evening, Durant went for 42 points on 16-26 shooting along with five assists, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks. The synergy shown by Brooklyn’s two leading scorers was evident in the team-high 32 minutes they shared on the court, as six of Harden’s 14 assists went to KD.

“When you play with really really good players, it’s pretty easy,” Harden said about playing with his new team. Good luck halting any action that directly involves two of the most feared scorers of this generation.

Though unlikely to shoulder as large an offensive burden as he has in recent years, Harden isn’t a safe bet to suddenly morph into a stout individual defender. His lackadaisical habits are etched too deep, which explains why he willingly switched onto Nikola Vucevic amid a season-high 34-point outing for the big man.

The best version of Harden the Nets can expect from on defense is the one they got in this game with active hands that picked up four steals.

Oh, and if there was any question as to whether his step-back would travel from Houston to Brooklyn — there wasn’t — Harden’s go-to move is sure to be another cruel reminder of how little the defense will affect the Nets’ point total.

A real test will arrive in Brooklyn soon enough, as the Milwaukee Bucks will match up against the Nets in a nationally televised game on Martin Luther King Day. Kyrie could make his return then to give us our first glimpse at the NBA’s latest Big Three.

After a five-game stretch in which he averaged just 17.4 points per game on 37.8 percent shooting — in which he may or may not have been attempting to accelerate his departure from Houston — a triple-double was Harden’s way of reminding us of all the trouble his game makes him worth.

On the other hand, a near quadruple-double with nine turnovers and not a second played alongside Irving indicates how much room there is for both Harden and the Nets to grow into the pairing they hope to be once it comes time to validate the drastic moves that brought the two together.

“We have some special talent in this locker room,” Harden said after the win. “Very versatile… Once we build that [chemistry] up, it could be scary.”