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James Harden has been in the news a lot lately. The combination of some off the court distractions, plus a long road trip, playing the second night of a back-to-back set with a strained hand, appear to have all culminated in one rough road loss to a bad team. The Brooklyn Nets lost their sixth in a row, falling 121-111 to the lowly, now 19-34 Sacramento Kings.
Harden finished with just 4 points, 6 turnovers, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds. He shot an icy 2 of 11 from the floor. And not the Joe Burrow type of icy.
Just checked it. This was James Harden's lowest scoring game while playing over 30 minutes since Nov. 2014 at the Grizzlies. He had six points that night.
— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) February 3, 2022
“I thought James looked tired,” said head coach Steve Nash after the defeat. “I thought he looked, he didn't have his legs tonight and you know it was one of those nights.”
Harden has been dealing with a right (non shooting) hand injury for a couple of weeks. It got aggravated by, Harden thinks, lifting some weights, and then falling on it while taking contact during games. One morning he woke up and couldn't move it. The team called it a hand “strain” and he missed the recent game vs. Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
It improved to the point he could move it again, so he played in the last one vs. the Kings. “I don't know, but he hasn't mentioned the hand to me,” admitted Nash after Harden's most recent stinker in Sacramento.
Harden was asked if he was fatigued in this one. “I mean, who knows?” he asked rhetorically. He only lightly pushed back on the idea the hand was still an issue, perhaps not wanting to make excuses. The only thing that became clear after these answers was that he was in no mood.
“I mean who knows.”
James Harden was asked if he dealt with fatigue. He also added that his hand wasn’t bothering him.
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) February 3, 2022
Harden now sits at 4th in the entire league logging a whopping 37 minutes per game. That's probably not ideal at this stage in the 32 year-old's career. What's been the issue for the Nets during this string of suboptimal play?
“We just got a lot of different things internally, lineups, we haven't had no continuity yet so it's just one of those things where you just gotta keep going, nothing else to do, keep going, keep pushing forward.”
Might they meet without the coaches to figure out the problem?
“Uh, no, I think we've done too much talking. I think we've done too much talking, we just, we gotta go out there and do it,” said Harden.
Kyrie Irving was asked what's been the issue during the team's losing streak.
“I mean, I wouldn't call it issues, it's just we don't want to make it bigger than just figuring out how to win a basketball game,” said Kyrie Irving. Irving finished with just 14 points, and 3 dimes, on 5 of 15 from the field. He didn't look quite himself either, but he was in good spirits. “This is a growth period that we're in and that's the way I see it,” added the Duke product.
“I mean I respect James' opinion,” said Irving when asked if he agrees with Harden's “too much talking” comments. “And I think of course, when you're going through a losing streak not really may be wanting to hear the same thing over and over again so I definitely feel for him…. But for us it's just getting closer as a group. The ‘get better jargon' that we consistently use whether it be here taking with you guys or in the locker room, yeah it can get mundane. It's just natural.”
Irving joked that if they do have a team ‘pow wow,' the reporters won't hear about it from him.
“I've been in quite a few players only meetings, and if we do have a players only meeting I know not to tell ya'll. ‘Cause it turns out to be something bigger if there's a guess of what's happening and what's being said in the locker room….”
“Like I said, this is a growth period for us,” continued Irving, “and when you see it as that, obviously your patience can run thin but I think this is what the game is really about is figuring out the right blueprint to win ball games.”
Kyrie's optimism may stem from a joy that comes with his return to action. Irving may have once accepted not being able to play at all this season, so he's perhaps still riding some of that high even after tough losses. That might allow him to inject a bit of patience and levity into an otherwise tense locker room.
We don't expect the Nets star to drop just 4 points in a loss again anytime soon. But it's probably not a bad idea to get him some more rest. Remember how good he looked on Christmas after a couple weeks off?
