When the Nets threw away the NBA’s longest winning streak, James Harden hit a chair.
Nineteen turnovers led to 32 points for the Mavericks on Saturday and made the Nets look as sloppy with basketball as they sometimes did before Harden arrived via a trade. Only this time, Harden was primarily guilty, with six times turnover, while he wanted to feed teammates other than the injured trio Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Tyler Johnson.
“I played the same way,” Harden said. ‘I made a discount attempt on Bruce [Brown] that too [normally] get, they are deviated. Drip to the basket, throw the ball out of bounds – myself, I did it. I did not try to do more than I normally do. I played my game, and sometimes you have bad games. ”
Harden describes his turnover as ‘indifferent’ examples of ‘trying to thread the needle’. During the second half, Harden, who scored only four of his 29 points after the break, stood up from his seat and punched an empty chair on the ground.
“We definitely had indifferent turnover which led to outgoing drafting,” coach Steve Nash said. “It hurts. We were only four behind in the half and they lost 20 points from turnover. It crushed us.”
The Spurs commit the least turnover per game (11.1) in the league. So there will be no extra possessions in the Nets game (14.6) on Monday to compensate for the giveaway.
‘[The Mavericks] ‘aggressively on defense – the passing lanes jumped – and made us accelerate a bit and forced us to turn the ball around,’ said Jeff Green. “To be able to win, especially when we have guys out, we have to do better. We have to take care of the ball. We have to make sure we get a good chance every time. ”
Irving (maintenance on the right shoulder) was not listed in Sunday’s injury report. Green (right shoulder contusion) has not played the last 15 minutes against the Mavericks and is indicated as doubtful against the Spurs. He missed one game last week. Johnson (migraine) is considered likely to return. Guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (sore right knee) started on Saturday but was doubtfully added to the injury report.
Offensive Tyler Cook has played 14 minutes over the two games since signing for a ten-day contract for depth. He will bulge the ladder if the Nets are careful with Green.
“Especially on the defensive side and to jump back,” Cook said, “I can serve this group immediately.”