The shorthanded Brooklyn Nets were blown out by the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in the lineup.

Following Saturday's lopsided 115-98 defeat, James Harden admitted that he deserved blame for the Nets' disappointing loss:

“I mean, me. 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,” Harden said, via Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “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 Saturday's contest with a game-high 29 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. However, the Nets All-Star guard also coughed up a game-high six turnovers, giving Luka Doncic and the Mavericks easy baskets on the other end.

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Altogether, the Nets had 19 turnovers compared to just eight of them by the Mavericks. In the NBA, you aren't going to win many games when you double the opposing team's turnovers.

While Harden was hard on himself for Saturday's loss, it's tough to blame him too much given the notable absences. Still, it was disappointing to see the Nets' winning streak end at eight games in such ugly fashion.

As of this moment, Brooklyn is the second seed in the Eastern Conference behind the Philadelphia 76ers. After committing six turnovers against the Mavericks, it's safe to say Harden will make a concerted effort to take care of the basketball more moving forward.