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While the Brooklyn Nets may have struggled during James Harden‘s absence while he was in the league’s health and safety protocols, it may have ended up being a blessing in disguise for the team. Ever since Harden’s return from health and safety protocols he has looked less like a shell of himself and more like the player that the Nets thought they were trading for last January. After dropping 36 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists against the Los Angels Lakers on Christmas Day, Harden followed it up with a 39 point and 15 assist performance in the Nets win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.
“I just want to win and try to find ways to impact the game on a night-in and night-out basis. That’s it, man,” Harden said after Monday’s win per NetsDaily. “I just try to go out there and do what I can do to the best of my abilities every night and help our team rebound, hitting guys for open shots, hit our open bigs and make it easy for them scoring the ball, and be that triple threat that I can be every single night.”
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Nets Update Durant, Kyrie Irving & LaMarcus Aldridge Return Status
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were just two of several players on the Nets who had entered the league’s health and safety protocols. But they left the biggest void in the Nets’ roster. On Tuesday Shams Charania of “The Athletic” announced that Irving, Durant, and Nets’ big man LaMarcus Aldridge have cleared the league’s health and safety protocols.
“Nets’ Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and LaMarcus Aldridge have cleared health and safety protocols,” Shams tweeted.
After the win over the Clippers Nets head coach Steve Nash told Kristian Winfield of the “New York Daily News” that he expects Durant to be available for the team’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.
“I think there’s a good chance Kevin will be (available),” Nash said per the “New York Daily News.” “He’s already been in for eight days or more so he should be. I’m not exactly sure of how many days right now but he’s got to be getting close.”
Kyrie Won’t Be Available to Return Immediately
As for Irving even though he has cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols he won’t be available to suit up immediately. Irving who has not played in a real NBA game since Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals will need a ramp-up period before he can officially return to the floor.
“It’s hard to say but I would say probably somewhere between a week and two weeks,” Nash said of Irving’s return. “He’s isolating, so that kind of puts another layer to the ramp-up. It’s not like he’s been working out. I’d imagine it’s going to be closer to two weeks once he comes out of protocols. We’ll see how it goes though because we have to evaluate him from a physical and performance standpoint, and then a basketball standpoint as well.”
The Nets already sit alone atop of the Eastern Conference with a record of 23-9. With Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant’s returns looming, scary hours could indeed be on the horizon.
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