Getty Kevin Durant and James Harden celebrate.
The Brooklyn Nets have stumbled out of the gate so far in this NBA season, but there’s a lot of time left for the team to find their mojo and get things right.
They currently find themselves closer to the bottom of the top eight in the conference than they do to the top, but there’s still a lot of positioning to be done and there’s little reasons to suspect they won’t be one of the best teams in the east this year.
However, a troubling trend has emerged so far this when superstars James Harden and Kevin Durant share the floor together. In case you’re out of the loop, star guard Kyrie Irving is sitting out the season over his stance on the coronavirus vaccine, so Harden is manning the point guard position.
On paper, that seems like a good fit and any team with both KD and Harden should be more than okay, especially in the regular season. Through 11 games, a bizarre statistic reveals that Durant actually plays worse while alongside Harden, and his production skyrockets when he’s on the floor without him.
Durant Better Without Harden?
The Brooklyn Nets’ net rating when…
– Kevin Durant is on the floor with James Harden: -5.3 (TS% of 57.)
– Durant is on the floor WITHOUT Harden: 28.4 (TS% of 62.6)
Pointed out by NBA writer Josh Eberly, the Nets have a better net rating when Durant is on the floor as the lone superstar than they are when the two are together.
Through these 11 games, when the two are out there together, the Nets post a -5.3 net rating while it shoots up to 28.4 while Durant is on the court without him.
Obviously, there are a lot of factors that come into play here and it’s a small sample size, especially when you consider the duo played together all last season. However, last season was different because they had Irving manning the offense. For whatever reason, the Nets haven’t looked great with Harden and Durant together, but it could still change.
Harden has gotten off to a rough start this season. He’s averaging a pedestrian 18.3 points per game and he’s shooting just 39.9 percent from the field, something that just isn’t going to cut it for a player of his caliber. Again, the season is still young and he can still get it turned around, but through 11 games, it does seem to be troubling.
Nets Can Bounce Back
GettyNicolas Claxton, Joe Harris, and Blake Griffin chat during a matchup with the Charlotte Hornets.
The games still have to be played, but the Nets do have an easier schedule ahead of them for the next three games. Their opponents are the Orlando Magic, New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder. All three of these teams have struggled out of the gate, but the Thunder have beaten the Lakers twice already.
One struggle for the Nets is that all of games are on the road, but it could still prove to be a boon for Harden especially. Durant has looked very solid to start the season, but he won’t be able to lift the team to a championship alone.
Harden has shown his frustration often in the season, so it’s clear he wants to focus on getting better as well. If you’re a Nets fan, you probably shouldn’t spend a ton of time worrying, but if it continues for much long, it might be time to hit the panic button.
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