On January 14, 2022, the Brooklyn Nets played against the Oklahoma Thunder. The Nets, who are third in the East, are facing the Thunder, who are the second-to-last in the West, and this should be a game without suspense. However, the Nets were full of injuries, Durant was resting, Irving could not play, and finally Harden could only lead the remnants of the Nets to play. In the end, the Nets lost 109-130 to the Thunder.
In this game, the Nets were suppressed by opponents almost the entire time, and Harden also appeared isolated on the court. In the game, Harden shot 7-of-22 and scored 26 points, 7 boards, 9 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Although Harden is not efficient in scoring, he has exhausted his strength on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and fans who watch the game can understand that the reason for this loss is not Harden. After the game, Harden also said on his social media that he had not gone to bed until 7:30 this morning (US time) and was too tired. Back-to-back games, coupled with long flights, Harden's fatigue with the rest of the basketball players is understandable.
In fact, the Nets had a chance to win this game, but there was a player on the team who was not injured or sick, with a salary of 34.91 million, and could not play at home. The Nets have paid so many luxury taxes this season, and the goal is to win the championship. But Irving, who has a high salary, is very willful and cannot play the home game now. Halfway through the season, Irving has only played 3 games, and the Nets can only rely on Durant and Harden to win. And most of this season, Durant and Harden are very tired, so Durant is right to take a break. But the team did not dare to simply let Harden also take all the rotations, and the result was that Harden dragged his tired body to lead the team to lose. If it weren't for Irving's willfulness, Harden and Durant would never have been so tired. Harden didn't have to go to the game alone today with the remnants. In the end, all of Irving's willfulness is not paid for by himself, but by Durant and Harden.
To be honest, if you continue to play like this, the possibility of Durant and Harden being injured will also become higher and higher. Once one of the two suffers a major injury, the Nets have no hope this season. I don't know if Irving felt a hint of guilt when he watched the game and saw his teammates all so tired.