Until the warm-up before the game, James Harden was almost a DNP. As soon as the game started, he looked like an MVP.
With his Nets missing, Harden refused to let them fall. He got rid of a neck injury that left him questionable, leading the Nets to a 116-112 victory over Portland at the Moda Center.
The Big Three were reduced to a Big One, Harden had 25 points, a record of the season with 17 assists and seven rebounds, despite playing in pain and left him close to being held back.
“Very close, actually. I was not able to be myself, really show my full range of motion, a little bit of everything, ”said Harden. “But without excuses. I tried to fight and my team needed me. I tried to go there and just do my best. And, hopefully, that was good enough. “
Clearly. With Kyrie Irving out, Jeff Green, Joe Harris and Nic Claxton took the day off when the Nets got an unexpected victory.
After giving up 41 points in the first quarter, the defense settled down during the game. They kept Portland at just 21 points in fourth place, with a .318 shootout.
“Much better in the past three quarters,” said Steve Nash. “We fought defensively in the first quarter. I thought we were a little undecided. I made many mistakes, mental mistakes. But in the last three quarters, 25, 25, 21 points it was very good. We keep telling them during the game, our defense is getting better and better. Stay with it, keep improving, and they did. They did a great job. They fought, they fought, our recovery improved and we managed to stop ”.
The Nets (30-14) won for the 16th time in their last 18 games, and ran their record winning team streak against Western Conference opponents for nine in a row. They moved to a middle game behind Philadelphia for first place in the Eastern Conference.
And they did it without Irving (family affair), Kevin Durant (hamstring), Landry Shamet (ankle) and Spencer Dinwiddie (ACL). It shows how good Harden was.
“I love to play basketball. I love being there facing the challenge of finding a way to win games. In basketball, nothing will be perfect, ”said Harden, adding that he will play Utah if he can. “I just go there and try to make an impact if I can play without risking [real injury]. “
The Nets used a 16-5 streak to take a seven point lead in the fourth quarter. Three more to go with the ball and 16.5 seconds remaining when Harden was charged with a turn, Derrick Jones Jr. winning a high ball against Claxton (16 points, nine bags). Brooklyn scored a foul and Robert Covington hit just one of two free throws to score 114-112.
Green (20 points) froze on the stripe.
The Nets held Damian Lillard (22 points) and CJ McCollum 7 out of 26 from the bottom, including 0 out of 7 in the crucial final period. Now they have NBA leader Utah, who approaches on Wednesday at the end of a brutal fight, and Detroit on Friday.
“We played very well on the road, especially against Western Conference teams,” said Harris, who scored 17 points. “But I think that right through the game today, we show a level of resilience that good teams show.”
The Nets led 69-68 after a Bruce Brown tray. But they coughed a 9-1 straight, crowned by Jones Jr. 3 who made the 77-70 with 8:32 remaining in the third quarter.
The Nets still lost 88-84 after a setback by the famous Nets-killer Enes Kanter. They responded by retrieving a 16-5 streak, including the first six unanswered points.
A Blake Griffin bucket placed them 96-93. And Claxton tipped and made a transition layup to give the Nets their biggest advantage of the night in 100-93, with 10:03 to play.
When the Nets saw the lead wither to two and in the 3-point race in Covington, Harden found Tyler Johnson for a 3 of his own to respond. Claxton padded back to 110-103 with 5:24 remaining. It may have been a Harden move or a lost float; in any case, it was a seven-point border.