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The Brooklyn Nets were staring at a tricky portion of their schedule. James Harden, who has struggled more than we expected him to this year, in his first game back from a couple weeks in health and safety protocols, was asked to lead the team without Kevin Durant. Our expectations weren't sky high coming in, and we didn't at all expect to see the MVP-caliber Harden we got to see over the last two games. That was a treat.
By now you probably know the reasons for Harden's slow start. He had to rehab a hammy last summer and couldn't practice much, the NBA made some rule changes to limit his bag of tricks, Kyrie Irving hasn't been around to help space the floor and of course, and the 32 year-old is now in his 13th year. Maybe he was slowing down a bit?
Back in August, Harden had a viral moment. The nine-time All-Star was asked what fans can look forward to this coming season. “Healthy James harden, scary, scary hours,” said the 2018 MVP.
The phrase, referencing the artist Drake, has of course become meme-worthy.
"I definitely think the break benefitted [James Harden]. He in L.A., so he at home, putting on a show so hopefully we can continue this when we get everybody back- it's gonna be scary hours for real."
Nic Claxton was asked if the time off in protocols benefitted James Harden.
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) December 28, 2021
We haven't exactly seen those terrifying times much yet. The Nets (23-9) are in first place in the East, but they've gotten largely cooked by elite teams and Harden has looked flat out meh in a couple of those–at least for his standards.
But on a recent holiday homecoming tour, the LA native finally looked scary good, displaying a precision and quickness he hadn't flashed much of this season.
Missing Durant, and a who's who of other Nets rotation players (including of course Kyrie Irving), it would not have been surprising in the least if Brooklyn dropped a pair of road games,especially when facing LeBron James' Lakers on Christmas. Instead, it was The Beard who stole the show.
Brooklyn Nets James Harden Brings back the floater vs the Lakers on Christmas pic.twitter.com/7uIHysac2i
— NetsKingdom 👑🗽 (@NetsKingdomAJ) December 26, 2021
But how do we make sense of this? Harden is at home quarantining with COVID-19 for two weeks then comes back and without a game or two to find his legs, explodes for the best ball of his season?!
Is there any chance that there was a silver lining to the whole COVID-19 thing for Harden? After all, he was logging the seventh most minutes in the NBA following a legitimate injury.
“I mean I don't know, probably,” Harden shared. “I was starting to feel good right before [testing positive], my body started to feel really good. I mean, I don't know, that break, or that protocol, Covid or rest, whatever you wanna call it, coulda went two ways and I just overly locked in on my body, my eating, and then when I was able to start working out, my workouts.”
Speaking of eating, what was that focus on his nutrition?
“Younger guys don't really care about it, I know when I was younger, you know it was kinda like ‘oh I can do this,' but now it's like I might have one good day out of two months or something like that. But especially for me man, I'm trying to get ahead of this thing, I'm trying to make sure my body feels great so I can continue to keep going up in the regular season and prepare for the playoffs. Individually, I gotta make sure I'm in the best shape and I'm the best James form that I can be for my teammates. And if I'm in that form, good things will happen for my team.”
But James, only one good cheat day out of every two months? Sheesh!
“Yeah of course mate, I think you’re so spot on,” admits Patty Mills, asked about time off the team has had while dealing with Covid. Adds a silver lining has been the break since the stars have logged such big minutes.
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) December 26, 2021
So what did James Harden do exactly to keep in shape during isolation?
“I have a little setup in my house to where it's just I got some weights I got some different kind of machines that I can keep my heart rate up, try to do that once, twice a day, once everything I felt good, my body felt good.”
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Coach Nash referred to Harden's at home workouts as his “homework” and added his star was asymptomatic with COVID-19.
Harden dropped 36 points, 10 rebounds and 10 dimes over LeBron James' Lakers in a 122-115 Nets victory on Christmas Day.
After that game, he was asked about his early season struggles.
“Yeah, that's over with, that's over with,” said the former Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets star.
“I think tonight was just- we had what a 27 point lead going into that 4th quarter? So it wasn't supposed to go like that,” he added in reference to the frenzied Lakers comeback. “At the end of the day I just wanted to win and that's all that matters.”
Coach Steve Nash was very impressed with how Harden carried their protocol-riddled Nets roster.
“From the jump against the Lakers and again tonight, he’s just been clinical,” Nash shared after a 124-108 drubbing over the Paul George-less Los Angeles Clippers. “Such a great head of the snake for us and when he plays like that, we’re very difficult to beat.”
Harden followed up his Christmas masterpiece with 39 points, 15 dimes and eight rebounds in the next one, marking the first time this season he topped 30 in consecutive games.
Like Steve Nash said, he's been clinical.
He's putting on an absolute clinic@JHarden13 #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/eflOSTdwlX
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 28, 2021
He played so well in Crypto.com arena, the team's owner Joe Tsai now loves the venue.
I like crypto
— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) December 28, 2021
With Kyrie Irving (still probably a couple of week away from his debut), KD set to return soon, and Harden playing like his old self after the extra rest, it's truly a very good news for Brooklyn. Having a full Big 3 should allow Nash to buy his studs much more rest than they've received recently and likely even the occasional night off.
If there was some legit concern about Harden this year, the last two games with the Nets provided hope. With Irving coming to give more floor spacing for Harden, and more chances to just take a break, James Harden has earned a cheat day.
