The Brooklyn Nets fell to the Dallas Mavericks 115-98 on Saturday evening, snapping an eight-game winning streak in the process.
With both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant sidelined, the onus fell on James Harden to carry the squad to victory. Unfortunately, he came up just short.
After the outing, the 31-year-old wasted no time calling out the player on the roster he felt was most responsible for the loss.
“I mean, me,” he acknowledged.
“I had six turnovers. A lot of them were careless, a lot of them were just not good plays, trying to thread the needle and whatnot.
“You give an offensive team like that an opportunity, and they did a great job of capitalizing. We’ve just got to be better. I’ve got to be better individually in securing the ball. And we will be better.”
Harden finished the day with 29 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, but that stat line comes with a few asterisks. For one, as he admitted postgame, he turned the ball over six times. Beyond that, only four of his points came in the second half.
She couldn’t stop throwing up. https://t.co/1LQkLjj2Vz
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 26, 2021
The Nets came into this outing as the NBA’s highest scoring team. Unfortunately, with Durant missing his seventh consecutive game due to a hamstring strain and Irving resting his shoulder, Brooklyn found itself needing to replace nearly 60 points in standard production.
That did not end up happening, and then the chronic turnovers proved to be the death knell.
LaMelo has found a nifty trick for picking up Instagram models. https://t.co/4y9uyWxlAe
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 25, 2021
Opinions about how good the Nets really are right now have varied. Some, like Draymond Green are of one mind, while others like LeBron James, are of another.
What everyone can probably agree on, however, is that if this team adds any of the players they’re in contention for – they’re going to get very scary, very quickly.
Currently Brooklyn is one of three teams vying for J.J. Redick’s services, and one of two teams competing for Andre Drummond’s talents. If either deal happens, the rest of the league better look out.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
