On January 26, Beijing time, the NBA regular season ushered in a focus battle, the Nets played against the Lakers at home. In this game, durant and Irving could not play in this game, and Harden faced the Lakers' big three alone. In this game, the Nets can only rely on Harden alone to support, when the team's last moment of successive mistakes, the Lakers seized the opportunity, the point difference was completely opened, and the game was also suspenseful. In the end, the Nets lost to the Lakers 96-106 and suffered two consecutive losses.
In this campaign, Durant was absent due to injury, Irving could not play in the home game, the Nets could only rely on Harden to lead the team alone, and the Lakers side Davis returned from injury. Nash changed sides again in this game, Harden, Mills, Bemburi, Edwards and Sharp. In the game, the Nets have been in a passive position, can only rely on Harden alone to lead the team to support, several times to narrow the point difference and then pulled apart, but in the final quarter, the Nets suddenly fell into a downturn, continuous mistakes; James continued to steal to complete the dunk, the point difference was widened by 15 points, and the game was also suspenseful about this mistake.
With more than 3 minutes left in the game, the Nets trailed by 15 points, and Nash also surrendered early to replace Harden. Harden, who was replaced, did not sit in front or in the middle of the bench, but came to the end, some lonely, but also quite painful. He really tried his best in this game, but unfortunately he got too little support, he could only rely on himself, and after being madly wrapped by the opponent, no teammate could stand up and provide fire support.
Harden played 38 minutes, shooting 11-of-24, 2-of-7 from three-point range and 9-of-9 from the free throw line, and had a triple-double of 33 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. In two times this season against the Lakers, Harden has won 30+ triple-doubles, winning 1 win and 1 loss, which also makes him the first player after Chamberlain in the 65-66 season to win two 30+ triple-doubles against the Lakers in a single season. But he alone can't beat the opponent, only 2 people around him scored in double figures, Mills scored 15 points, Bemburi 12 points, and the other players did not score in double figures.
There have been many rumors about Harden recently, and Harden also said in a post-game interview: "I don't know what the report is. Of course, I'm frustrated, for a lot of reasons, injuries, pandemics, or whatever you want to call them. For Harden's current situation, O'Neill and Wade have supported him, believing that the Nets are the only one on the right track, and testing the free market is also his right.
Now Harden is indeed quite helpless, Durant has a championship, Irving also has a championship, they really do not need too much urgency, on the contrary, Harden does not have much time to wait, this season's Nets performance will become a key factor in Harden's future.