Brooklyn Nets: Obligatory Backcourt Overreaction After Six Games

From the desk: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

KYRIE, THE BEARD, AND THE BALL

FRIDAY

Nets        147

Thunder  125

FINAL 

With Kevin Durant out for preventative maintenance, Coach Nash extends the bench.  Nine different Nets score in double-digits en route to a 22-point victory over the Thunder at Oklahoma City.  

Both Kyrie Irving and James Harden lead the floor with 25-point each.  Irving is 10/16 from the floor and 4/4 from the line with seven assists and five rebounds.  Harden goes 9/14 and is likewise 4/4 from the line and posts a game-high eleven assists and ten defensive rebounds.  

DeAndre Jordan attempts a season-high seven shots from the floor.  It's the third time Jordan has attempted as high as seven shots since the arrival of Harden, who continues facilitating him in the paint.  Before Jarrett Allen's departure, Jordan's previous high in shot attempts was four (against the Knicks and Sixers).

Joe Harris was 5/9 from the arc en route to a twenty point night.  It's the fifth time this season he's achieved at least twenty points and the third time since Harden's arrival.

Eh hem ...

Forget the Big Three for a second; the Dynamic Duo is still learning how to work together.  With little to no practice time since Harden's arrival, everything has been on the fly.  Kevin Durant and Harden had the benefit of playing together at OKC.  However, two unfamiliar superstars sharing the same backcourt is an entirely different dynamic.

Friday's starting lineup listed Kyrie at the point and Harden as the shooting guard - meaningless, I know.  But insofar as who's really doing what ... the numbers tell no lies.

Brooklyn is 6-2 since the James Harden trade.  He and Kyrie Irving have joined forces six times for a 4-2 record, including their current winning streak of four in a row.  Both were on the floor during back-to-back losses against the Cavs.  

In all but one game together, Kyrie Irving has taken more shots than Harden.  After averaging just 11.7 shots through his first four games, Harden finally erupted for twenty attempts versus Atlanta while Kyrie hoisted 17 shots.  Kyrie has put up 119 shots for an average of 19.8 per game through their six games together, while Harden has put up 81 shots for 13.5 attempts per game.  The Beard was averaging 16.8 shots through eight games played with Houston.  Overall, Kyrie is averaging an even twenty shots through his first thirteen games.  The last time he eclipsed twenty attempts came during the back-to-back losses against Cleveland in which he outshot Harden each time by a margin of fourteen and ten, respectively.  Since then, Kyrie has played four straight games with under twenty attempts.

Cycling back, Harden looks to get DeAndre Jordan more involved.  Harden is averaging 11.7 assists through his first eight games with Brooklyn, which is an uptick above his 11.1 assists for the season.  Kyrie is averaging 5.5 assists since Harden's arrival and 5.8 assists for the season, representing a slight downtick.

But six games is too small a sample size ... right?