In a regular season game that ended today, the Brooklyn Nets lost 116-120 to the Los Angeles Clippers, their first second straight loss of the season. The Clippers scored 71 points in the second half of the game, and in the final minutes of the final quarter, they exploded a wave of 25-8 scoring climax, surpassing the Nets in one fell swoop.
In this game, the Nets' James Harden continued his performance in his previous games, playing 40 minutes in the whole game, shooting 9 of 22, 3 of 11 three-pointers, 13 of 15 from three-point range, and cutting a game-high 34 points, 12 boards, 13 assists and 1 steal; Kevin Durant 28 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists; Mills 17 points and 2 assists; Ader 10 points and 9 rebounds; Claxton 13 points and 10 rebounds. It can be said that the Nets still had some problems playing today's game, and they let their opponents play a 17-point climax in the fourth quarter. That's why they ultimately failed.
Still, James Harden's performance was reassuring. In the Christmas war on December 26, Harden led the team to get a triple-double of 36 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, on December 28, Harden scored a big double-double with 39 points, 8 rebounds and 15 points; on December 31, Harden again scored a triple-double of 33 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, and today, he once again got 30+ points. In the last four games, Harley has averaged 35.5 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, leading the league in all aspects, and it is worth noting that Harden's turnovers are slowly decreasing, which is good news for everyone.
At the beginning of the season, Harden's performance once worried fans, averaging only 20 points per game, and many mistakes, Harden was in the vortex of criticism for a while. However, fans can clearly see that in the four games in which Harden lifted the safety agreement, his performance has been bright enough, and the state is gradually hot, which is the result that the vast majority of fans want to see. The current 35.5 points per game is somewhat similar to Harden in the Rockets, and if Harden can return to the peak state of the Rockets, then the Nets' probability of winning the championship this season will increase a lot.
You know, now Irving has been allowed to play away games, once Irving returns, then Harden, Durant, Irving three people combined, this combat team in the league can resist. If it weren't for injuries last season, the Nets would probably have lifted a championship trophy.
At present, the Nets are still facing two major problems, one is the head coach's on-the-spot coaching ability, and the other is the physical problem of the players. Since Nash became the coach, he has been criticized by fans for his coaching ability, and the use of people in the rotation stage is fixed, do not know how to be flexible, and will only use Harden and Durant; it is precisely because of Nash's employment tactics that Harden and Durant's physical strength has become an urgent problem for the Nets to solve, and they cannot always let them play like this, otherwise they are likely to experience last season's injuries again.