Brooklyn Nets: Joe Harris’ Marvel breakdown of Big 3 is amazing

The Brooklyn Nets are coming off one of their best wins of the season on Saturday night, when they overcame a 21-point deficit to topple the streaking Denver Nuggets on the road, marking their second-largest comeback victory of the campaign thus far.

The Nets were back in action on Tuesday night against the Bulls looking to put a stranglehold on the No. 2 seed in the East, which would see them lock up home-court advantage in the playoffs until a potential conference finals matchup vs Philadelphia.

Unfortunately for Brooklyn, they’ll remain without James Harden, who’s reportedly nearing a return from his hamstring injury. This means the Nets’ Big 3, who’ve looked virtually unstoppable together, have still shared the floor for just seven games this season.

That’s the opposite of ideal with the playoffs fast approaching, so they’ll be hoping Harden is cleared for action in the coming days. After all, with him on the court it goes without saying Brooklyn is the prohibitive championship favorite.

In fact, if you were to ask Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris about the Big 3’s Marvel character comps, his answer suggests the 15 other playoff teams shouldn’t even bother competing.

Nets fans will love Joe Harris’ Marvel breakdown of the team’s Big 3.

Appearing on the R2C2 podcast this week, Harris was asked to elaborate about which Marvel characters the likes of Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving most closely resemble. For such a spontaneous question, the Nets marksman’s answer was spot on.

Perhaps Harris’ most puzzling answer was comparing Irving to the Hulk. While Irving’s playing style doesn’t exactly mirror that of the chiseled humanoid, who tends to defeat his opponents with brute strength, their stubborn personalities are almost indistinguishable.

As for Harden and Durant, well, fans would be hard-pressed to list better Marvel comps for them than Harris did. Much like the way Harden is viewed throughout the NBA after the distasteful way he went about forcing his way out of Houston, Thor isn’t what one would call beloved across the comic universe.

When time comes to compete, however, Harden is as valuable as any player in the league and always seems to have a “pulse on the game” even when he’s having an off shooting night. In basketball terms, Harden’s left hand is almost as powerful as Thor’s hammer.

Finally, we get to Durant. Speaking strictly in terms of superpowers (not durability), the Iron Man comparison is completely accurate. Once he crosses halfcourt, defenders are forced to man up because there’s nowhere on the floor the two-time Finals MVP can’t score from. Given how long he’s been at this, we really don’t have to elaborate beyond that.

For as fun as that exercise was, we’ve seen in the past teams fall short in their quest for a championship despite having all the talent on paper.

In other words, as long as Durant, Harden and Irving are all healthy come playoff time, flaunting some of the best individual talent in the league means nothing if they don’t win a title…or should they not be held to the same standards as some of Marvel’s most idolized heroes?

Can Brooklyn Nets hold off Milwaukee Bucks to secure two seed?

Based on how that schedule looks, the Brooklyn Nets holding off the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 2 seed could be easier than it sounds.