The Brooklyn Nets have looked just as good as advertised with all three of their superstars playing at the same time, as Saturday night’s win against the Golden State Warriors illustrated how lethal the offense can be when Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden are all clicking.
Durant showed off his scoring ability at every level of the floor, Kyrie proved that he can work as an off-ball guard, and Harden has assumed the point guard role, having done so almost immediately after the trade. When all three have been on the floor together, the results have been jaw-dropping.
However, Brooklyn has had a bit of a problem with regard to “playing down” to their competition. While the likes of the Bucks, 76ers, and Clippers have all fallen to the Nets, Brooklyn has lost six games against the Grizzlies, Wizards, and Cavaliers.
The Nets are 7-11 against teams with losing records, proving that they struggle against some of the bottom-feeding teams in the NBA. Oddly enough, they are 9-1 against teams that are over .500. When the chips are down and the Nets have to dig deep to pull out a win, their trio of stars has proven to be more than capable of getting it done.
The Nets are 9-1 vs. teams over .500 and 7-11 vs. teams under .500.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) February 14, 2021
Laughing. My. Ass. Off.
The Brooklyn Nets are playing well when everyone is healthy.
The Nets clearly have the postseason on their mind right now. While that mindset has led to some missteps against poor teams that could cost them in playoff positioning, the Nets have shown that they can beat most of the teams that could deny this trio a chance at their first championship together.
When Harden, Kyrie, and KD are all playing alongside one another, the Nets are 5-1, showing that there has been minimal, if any, friction between these three on the offensive side of the ball. While giving up almost 150 points to a team like the Wizards certainly isn’t a good look, beating Kawhi Leonard, Steph Curry, and Joel Embiid bodes well for their playoff chances.
The Nets need to keep their foot on the gas pedal late in games against bad teams, as they’ve blown several fourth-quarter leads. If they can work on correcting this issue, it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if the Nets end up taking the top seed in the conference away from either Philadelphia or Milwaukee.