Kevin Durant, James Harden and the Nets (4-3) squad will look to make it three in a row when they host the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday. The Nets may have been a couple of inches away from hosting Atlanta in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. As it played out, the Dirty Birds made it one round further than Brooklyn did in 2021. Now the two franchises will duke it out for temporary bragging rights in a very possible playoff matchup down the line.
Let's make 4 bold predictions for the matchup of Eastern Conference powerhouses.
Nets Predictions
*Stream the NBA live on FuboTV*
1) Blake Griffin breaks out
Blake Griffin has had a slow start to this year to say the least. Averaging just 4.8 points per game, shooting under 12 percent from deep, and under 29 percent from the field, it's safe to say he's come into this year a bit rusty. His season high is just 8 points. He was never asked to shoulder much of the scoring burden in Brooklyn, since arriving via buyout market last season. But he did average 12 points per game in the second round versus the Milwaukee Bucks last year.
I'm going to make the bold prediction that he doubles his current season high and drops 16 on the Hawks. And connects on two triples, breaking out of his October funk.
2) James Harden cracks that 30 point threshold he's been after
You may have seen this shocking admission from James Harden via ClutchPoints last week:
“It’s getting better every single game. As much as I want to get back to just 30s and 40 points, I can’t do that …as much as I want to obviously would love to, I had no opportunities to play pick-up or nothing this summer.”
It wouldn't exactly be shocking if he dropped 30 next game, since The Beard had 29 a couple contests ago. But it should still count as a bold prediction to say he will drop 30 on Atlanta since he's only averaging 18.5 points per contest so far. Atlanta allows the 6th most fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards, per FantasyPros.com. Harden runs a lot of point for this team but Nate McMillan's group still doesn't have many great answers to matchup with the 2018 MVP on the perimeter.
He's looked better and better in the last couple outings. We suspect he'll top his season high in the next one.
3) DeAndre' Bembry revenge game!
At times this season Nets coach Steve Nash has talked about this team not profiling as an elite defensive club. One guy who he doesn't mean when he says things like that is the North Carolina native DeAndre' Bembry.
Bembry has played at least 13 minutes in each of the last two games, and though a chunk of his season high 24 minutes came in garbage time after Kevin Durant was ejected in the win over Detroit, it seems the team is becoming increasingly comfortable deploying the 6th year wing in key moments. The coach has had rave reviews for Bembry's ability on defense and his timing as a cutter on offense.
I expect them to turn to DB as well as Bruce Brown and Jevon Carter at times to try and slow down the electric Trae Young. And I expect Bembry to get some revenge against his former club in a Nets win.
4) We get treated to some meme glory even Nets and Hawks fans can laugh at
With James Harden and Trae Young going toe-to-toe, tonight's game will feature two of the most controversial foul-hunters in the entire league. The NBA has clearly cracked down on non-basketball moves this season. One trick that isn't being called much now is Harden's “reach your arms under the defender's to make it look like as foul” move. The other is Young's infamous “break-check” where he snakes around a pick-and-roll then stops short or even hops backwards into the trailing defender; you know, the one Steve Nash said wasn't basketball last season.
Between Harden and Young in one game we're nearly guaranteed to generate some Haterade from internet trolls. Maybe it'll even include both superstars on one play. May the best meme win.
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