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NEW YORK – Five games into his tenure with the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden is starting to piece together his pass or score Rubik’s Cube.
After scoring just 10 points in three quarters on Monday against the Miami Heat, Harden racked up 10 points in the final quarter and finished with 20 points and eight assists in the Nets’ 98-85 victory. Trying to solve her role puzzle, Harden said, is “the best part” of her first few weeks in Brooklyn.
“I played a role for eight years, controlling the ball, dominating the ball,” said Harden, referring to his time in Houston with the Rockets. “Now it’s a different experience for me, but it’s still great.
Harden was coming out of his lowest performance in a calendar year. On Saturday, he had just 12 points in the team’s first of two games against the Heat, but the Nets found solace in his facilitation. Coming into Monday’s game, Harden had finished with double-digit assists in every game he had played for Brooklyn.
Kevin Durant, who finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, said Harden’s performance against Miami was “the perfect balance” between scoring and facilitating. “It feels like he’s just transferred to a new school and is trying to figure out the program,” Durant said. “And it will take time to figure out who your teammates are, what your rotations are in the game, when to be aggressive, when to score, when to pass.”
He continued: “As a goalscorer and the focal point of your offense, sometimes the balance between scoring and passing – you have to figure that out every night.”
Steve Nash said he’s confident that with more time to build chemistry and get back in shape, Harden will continue to improve to achieve that balance.
“I am fortunate to be able to do more than just one thing on the basketball court,” said Harden. “So that’s fun. Like I said before, it’s an in-game game, you have to choose when to be aggressive, when to start your shooters, when to let KD and Kyrie start.”
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