Brooklyn Nets: Joe Harris Passes Another Test

From the desk: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

THURSDAY

Nets   109

Lakers  98

FINAL

Joe Harris Refusing To Go Away

There was no need to adjust your sets.  The Brooklyn Nets did indeed defeat the defending champions Thursday night in Los Angeles.  However, this was not a potential preview of this year's NBA finals - not with Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant out of action.  

But it was a big game nonetheless.

This game marks just the sixth time this season and the second time in the last five games Flatbush has held their opponent under one hundred points.  LeBron James played up to expectations with a game-high 32 points.  Kyle Kuzma, who took ten fewer shots than James, was next in with 16 points.  Otherwise, the rest of LeBron's mates weren't up to the task.  Montrezl Harrell was the Lakers' next highest contributor with just ten points off the bench.

The Nets had six fewer attempts from the field and were terrible from the line, shooting 15/24 (62.5%), but they made up for it shooting 18/39 (46.2%) from behind the arc.  Joe Harris led the charge in that regard, shooting 6/7 from three range.  Next in was Timothe-Luwawu Cabarrot shooting 5/8 from three.  Timothe enjoyed a much-needed confidence booster.  After averaging just six points and 1.2 assists in 21.4 minutes over his last five games, Timothe bounced back with 15 points and three assists in 27 minutes off the bench.

Anytime the Nets are down, Kevin Durant, or Kyrie Irving, or James Harden, or any combination of the three, I expect Joe Harris to step up his game and play a more primary role.  That's where we are in his Nets career.  I've been keeping the spotlight on Harris because, in previous seasons, teams that wanted him deleted from the equation simply hit enter, and poof, there went Joe Harris.  If you recall, two seasons ago, in the playoffs against Philadelphia, Joe Harris in game one scored 13 points in 30 minutes.  The Sixers then shut him down, limiting him over the final four games to an average of just 7.7 points in 29.7 minutes.  This season, for the most part, a more experienced Harris is better holding his ground.  He was second on the team with 21 points and third in shot attempts against the Lakers.  It's just the second time this season Joe Harris has scored twenty points or more in consecutive games.  In 14 games against the present-day top eight teams in each conference, Joe Harris is averaging 17.5 points in 30.5 minutes per game.  As far as East competitors, Harris has scored 42 points in two games versus Philadelphia, 20 points against Milwaukee, and 19 points against Toronto.   

Further emphasizing the demands I place on Harris, Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 17 attempts but connected on only seven shots for 16 points in 34 minutes.  It's a subtle reminder the Big Three will have off nights.  Meanwhile, James Harden continues his case for MVP with a team-high 23 points and a game-high eleven assists in a team-high 38 minutes.

Flatbush extends their winning streak to five games and improves to 4-0 on this western swing.  After playing four games in six days, the Nets are off till Sunday when they wrap up this already wildly successful road trip against the Clippers.  The last time they met, Brooklyn defeated the Clippers by four at Barclays Center.