Getty James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving high-five after coming off the court during the second half of the Brooklyn Nets' game against the Miami Heat at Barclays Center on January 25.
When the 2020 NBA schedule was released the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers Christmas Day game was supposed to be one of the blockbuster matchups of the regular season. But with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Anthony Davis not suiting up the game had a lot less flare than originally anticipated. Even with three of the NBA’s brightest stars out of the contest, the game still had high drama as the Nets saw a 23-point fourth-quarter lead disappear. But a play that Nets head coach Steve Nash drew up out of a timeout in the final frame led to a poster dunk by Nicolas Claxton on LeBron James that sealed a 122-115 win for Brooklyn.
NIC CLAXTON THROWS DOWN THE OOP OVER BRON 🤯
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James Harden Makes Prediction on Kyrie Irving’s Return
The Nets have done a great job making adjustments. They have had to plug and play for absent players on multiple occasions. But Brooklyn announced last week that the team has already begun the process of onboarding Kyrie back onto the roster. Nets star James Harden says that he is looking forward to the day that Irving finally returns because it will make everyone’s job a lot easier.
“Obviously, we all know how special of a talent Kyrie is and what he means to this organization and our team. So just to be around him, even if it’s only for road games, will be huge for us,” Harden said to Brian Lewis of the New York Post after the Nets win over the Lakers.
“He obviously makes all our jobs a lot easier. But just having him around and obviously, he’s a very, very skilled basketball player but just having his personality around the team now.”
James Harden vows #Nets will improve with Kyrie Irving: ‘Makes all our jobs a lot easier’ t.co/iDcyfWigYj via @nypostsports
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Harden Sounds off on the Nets Win Over the Lakers
“The Beard” unquestionably had his best performance of the season against the Lakers as he notched 36 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists on the night. But to take it a step further Harden says the Nets win over the Lakers was one of the best performances of the year for the team as a whole.
“It’s up there,” Harden said after the win per NetsDaily. “We had a couple of them. The Philly game. We had a couple of games at home where guys were out, we found ways to win. Until this is over and get our full roster, the motto is to find ways to win and we’ve been doing that.”
The other star of the night for the Nets was their sharpshooter Patty Mills who notched 34 points and knocked down eight shots from long-range on the night. Mills who was originally signed to be a role player this offseason has seen his role increase on the Nets in the absence of Kyrie. Harden believes that Mills is having the best season of his career, a notion that Mills seems to agree with.
“I think production-wise, playing for my country is probably where I tend to play the best as well, but to answer your question: Yeah possibly, but a lot of factors go into that I think,” Mills said per the New York Post.
“But like I said, I’m just having a lot of fun playing with this team and playing with these guys, and that’s definitely coming into play as well, so yeah. Possibly.”
The Nets will look to extend their lead in the Eastern Conference in their next game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Durant could return for the matchup.
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