Kyrie Irving takes a pass from James Harden and drives in for an undisputed left finger roll to give the Brooklyn Nets 18 points in less than six minutes to make the first game of the NBA’s latest Big Three – consisting of Irving, Harden and Kevin Durant – to begin with. . They made their first ten shots, an emphatic confirmation of our wildest expectations, and put the ball in the basket at random with three of the most productive individual scorers in the world.
But instead of sitting back and tackling the onslaught and applying the story to the point of unfolding, the Cleveland Cavaliers turned on their stance and defended a series of zones, pushing the Nets to force adjustments. That, coupled with a 42-point virtuoso performance by Collin Sexton, eventually led the Cavs to a double overtime victory of 147-135, which spoiled the debut of the Nets’ new triumph.
“We started hot, 10-for-10 to start. We got what we wanted,” Durant said after the loss. “They threw zone out the whole rest of the game in fourth place, and once they released the zone, we could go back into the game after we were 15 or 16 down. Against young teams, you know they’re going to start throwing pressure. “out there, zones, mix up their defense – play more exotic defenses. You know, we just have to be prepared for that.”
The difficulty of making adjustments was expected on Wednesday, with the Big Three playing together for the first time, but Durant’s comments point to what will be the main obstacle to the Nets offense. If it goes well, it’s almost impossible to stop, based on the individual talent of their three best players alone. But if the defense makes adjustments and Irving, Harden and Durant go in and out of slumps, how will Brooklyn change his approach?
We saw a bit of this dilemma in the first half of the loss to the Cavs. Harden clearly tried to involve others early on, as he had in his previous two games with the Nets, and on Wednesday he scored just two points on two – yes, two – field goal attempts in the first half. Last season, Harden averaged more than one field goal attempt every two minutes.
Harden did not want to force the problem, and Irving was able to put up his 17 points in the first half while Durant scored 11. Harden finishes with 21 points, but he never really got an offensive rhythm as he tried to turn the switch. in the second half and extensions. Harden is not used to playing on the third wheel, and you can see that he struggles to decide when he wants to take control and when he procrastinates. All three stars seemed reluctant to enforce the issue offensively and wanted to make sure the others were comfortable, leading to some forced passes and poor turnover, especially early on.
“I’m trying to get a feel for this whole situation. It’s going to come to me,” Harden said after the game. “I’m not worried. I’m not in a hurry – very, very patient. Things will come. That’s all it is – patience, communication and figuring out things we will do.”
Just when we saw the balancing vehicle needed while three elite scorers tried to engage each other, however, we saw the luxury that stars offer at the end of the game. As the Nets wiped out the Cavs’ fourth-quarter lead by 12 points to finally force overtime, Durant had 11 points, Irving had 10 and Harden had seven points and four assists in the frame – each could have a keep to themselves or teammate seemingly at will.
Meanwhile, the Cavs needed Sexton to be virtually perfect in overtime to secure the win. It worked Wednesday, but many times not. In contrast, the Nets have three All-NBA players to choose from to close out games – exactly why the front office traded.
So in their debut, we saw the blessing and the curse of having Harden, Irving and Durant together. It will take a while before they figure out how to play together and spread the opportunities. Sometimes it’s going to be very ugly. Defensively, we can already see that it is going to be a struggle – they allowed 117.4 points per 100 possessions in three games with Harden.
But at the end of the games, when most playoffs are decided, they will have three players who can give the Nets a win, and they express the positive points that ultimately outweigh the negative aspects of three superstars that the court part.
“We sometimes looked a little lost, which is natural because we did not play together, so there is a bit of indecision,” Nets coach Steve Nash said after the game. “But I stay positive. These guys, it’s their first night together to just get a feel for each other. It’s going to be a process that will last all year. While we’re all disappointed, we have a lot to build on. , lots to grow, lots more opportunities. ‘