The Kyrie-less Brooklyn Nets had to fend for themselves against a hungry Blazers team trying to stay in playoff contention in the wild Western Conference. Without the services of shooter Landry Shamet too for the start of this road trip, it was almost inevitable that the Nets were going to struggle.
At the start of the half, Enes Kanter could not be contained. He played a big part in Portland maintaining a lead in the first half. Luckily for Brooklyn, Jeff Green was turning back the clock by stepping up big time. He tied the team-high with 15 points at the half to help push the Nets to a 67-66 lead.
The second half was just a masterclass by the Nets and James Harden. The Beard finished the game with 17 assists along with 25 points. Nic Claxton had a big fourth quarter, showing why he deserves to get more minutes in Steve Nash’s rotation. It seemed like the underdogs of this game are back to being the big dogs of the league.
James Harden must be in the Top 5 for the MVP race
James Harden has averaged about 38 minutes per game. His durability is a huge reason why Brooklyn continues to win. Now factor in his league leading assist numbers. That’s a dimension of his game that he is perfecting in front of our very eyes game after game. Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, and Nikola Jokic are having great seasons, but it is time to stop ignoring what James Harden is doing in Brooklyn. This is next-level stuff.
Brooklyn does not view themselves as the underdog on any given night
The Nets entered their Tuesday night matchup as underdogs being that James Harden was questionable and still recovering from his injury against the Washington Wizards, Kyrie Irving being unavailable, Landry Shamet being out with his ankle injury and Kevin Durant still off the floor. The team fought and outscored the Blazers 64-28 in the paint, showing their dominance in the interior. The Nets just showed why despite entering a matchup being the underdogs, they are going to take that personally being that they are the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference, which should already be enough for the league to see that they’re not just a team built on the glorified Big 3.
Nicolas Claxton is becoming a defensive monster
Nicolas Claxton is becoming a defensive monster. Every time Portland found a switch on him with one of their guards, Claxton made is really difficult for them with his length. He was contesting shots, getting deflections, blocking passing lanes, and overall just staying active on that end. If this is this is the sophomore in at only 21-years-old, the league has to start fearing in the man they call “The Alchemist.”