It’s been a month since James Harden landed in Brooklyn to create a Big 3 with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The Beard ended his tenure with Houston in not-so-good terms and everybody believed he was going to be a problem for the Nets now but none of that has happened.
In fact, Harden has become the floor general of this team, just like Kyrie Irving told him to do recently. The 4x scoring champion is living a great moment with his team, who have won the last five games, including wins against the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, and Golden State Warriors.
Even though a variety of reasons have prevented fans from watching the Big 3 playing together more time, the team has kept afloat thanks to Harden and his new style of play and role on this team. Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer recently wrote a large piece about the impact of Harden on this team, explaining that he’s the glue that brings all the pieces together. Even though KD and Kyrie were name starters for the upcoming All-Star Game, the Nets owe their success to the Beard.
Basketball has never been this easy for James Harden. He’s flourishing as part of a superteam in Brooklyn, averaging 24.2 points per game with career highs in assists (11.7), rebounds (8.2), field-goal percentage (50.0), and 3-point percentage (40.8). He doesn’t have to carry his team on his back anymore. Harden can play within the flow of the Nets’ offense, attacking off the dribble and taking what the defense gives him. He’s one of the most skilled and intelligent players ever. There’s little opponents can do to slow down the former MVP now that he’s playing with so much talent around him.
Harden led the Nets in points (23) and assists (11) in a battle of shorthanded squads on Thursday, pacing a double-digit win over the Lakers. The surprise isn’t that Brooklyn won the game without Kevin Durant, but rather how effortless it looked. Harden was in complete control from the start, getting wherever he wanted to go and bending the defense to his will. It never seemed like the Lakers bothered him. Harden had only one turnover despite dribbling through the heart of the Lakers defense the entire game. He casually strolled to the rim, set up his teammates for open shots, and scored seemingly without breaking a sweat.
Tjarks pointed out that Harden is still the ball-dominant player on the team but this time, he’s not shooting a lot of shots and scoring a lot of points every night. That’s KD and Kyrie’s job now.
That’s been one of the biggest differences between Harden and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. Kyrie scores as if he’s being judged on the degree of difficulty on every possession.
The two have settled into new offensive roles during the team’s current five-game West Coast road trip. Harden is the point guard and Kyrie is the shooting guard. It’s the perfect blend of their games. Kyrie has always been at his best when dribbling the ball into the ground and hunting for his own shot. That was his role when he won an NBA title in Cleveland with LeBron James running the offense. Harden was often portrayed as a similar kind of player in Houston, but he’s closer to LeBron than Kyrie in terms of being a well-rounded offensive force.
That’s become clear in the former Rockets star’s first month in Brooklyn. Harden has been the key to making the Nets’ superteam experiment work. He has expanded his game and allowed Kyrie and KD to thrive in more specialized roles. It’s his job to keep the ball moving and make sure that everyone is involved in the offense. All his costars have to worry about is getting buckets. Harden has adjusted his style of play to become a more traditional floor general. He is the Nets’ third-leading scorer and averaging more assists than his two costars combined.
When he first landed in Brooklyn, Harden made it clear that he wanted to win and nothing else. He’s doing everything he can to help his teammates reach the next level for the Nets’ sake. The 31-year-old is having a very good campaign with his new team and every day he looks better.
If they can have the Big 3 healthy for the rest of the season, the Nets will become the big team everybody expects them to be. It won’t be easy, for sure, but they’re making the right steps to achieve their goal.
