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Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James talks Brooklyn Nets trio ahead of matchup

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The Brooklyn Nets are the NBA’s latest superteam, an offensive juggernaut featuring two former MVPs in Kevin Durant and James Harden and the owner of one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals history in Kyrie Irving, who also is widely considered to have the best handles the sport has seen.

But LeBron James wasn’t ready to declare the trio an unprecedented ensemble when asked about Brooklyn ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers’ first game against the new-look Nets on Thursday.

“Um, have we forgot about KD, Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) already?” James said following the Lakers’ 112-104 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. “I mean, there you go. There you go right there.”

James knows that Golden State Warriors group well — it beat his Cleveland Cavaliers for back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018.

But the most points Durant, Curry and Thompson ever averaged in their three seasons together was 75.8 per game in 2018-19.

Durant (29.0), Irving (28.3) and Harden (23.9) entered Tuesday averaging 80.7 points for the Nets this season.

Thursday’s showdown will be missing some firepower. L.A. will be without Anthony Davis, who suffered a calf strain and aggravated the Achilles tendinosis in his right leg Sunday. He will see team doctors when the Lakers return home Wednesday.

“We’ll see how he responds to treatment and reevaluate in a couple weeks,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said Tuesday.

On the other side, Durant has missed the past two games with a left hamstring strain and Irving sat out Tuesday’s comeback win against the Phoenix Suns with tightness in his lower back.

That said, James said he is looking forward to seeing these Nets in person for the first time.

“It’s always exciting for me to go against some of the best guys in the game — and they got three of them,” he said. “They got three of the best guys in the game. Definitely would love to be full when you’re playing against a team like that and see, like, at that point in the season, how you match up — how you match up against some of the best teams in the league. And, obviously, we won’t be full on Thursday. But, other than that, yeah, I love going out there and just being out on the floor with some of the best to play this game.”

James’ teammate Montrezl Harrell was less enthusiastic. He was a part of the NBA’s shiny new toy with the LA Clippers last season, when the historically underachieving franchise added Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and became instant favorites to win the title.

Perhaps going through all that hype, only to be part of the Clippers’ second-round playoff exit to the Denver Nuggets, taught him that the regular season isn’t always the best indicator of postseason success.

“Honestly, I don’t really care,” Harrell said. “We go into every game with a game plan, know offensively, defensively what we want to do in order to win that game, and that’s going to be the same thing we’re going to have to do when we play on Thursday.

“There’s nothing no different. We’re not circling that game. We’re not putting any extra emphasis on that game. It’s just like any other game — we’re taking it one game at a time. We’re still learning, we’re still growing and we’re still building with one another, and we’re gonna have to do it to a higher standard with losing one of our big pieces [in Davis].”

Nets head coach Steve Nash said his team is fully aware of the “tremendous challenge” that awaits the Nets in their first meeting with the Lakers.

“We know who they have over there,” he said after Brooklyn’s 128-124 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. “We know how well they’re coached and what they’ve been able to do in the last year or so. So it’s a great test for us. You load the guys up and be ready to go and try to keep getting better.”

Nets guard James Harden had a different take, saying the team is more concerned about improving as a unit than it is about its opponent, even if it’s the Lakers.

“Obviously, offensively we’re really, really good. Defensively, we’re not so great,” he said. “So we have to find ways to be better in that category, which we all know. So we’re working on that, and whether it’s the Lakers or any other team, that doesn’t get us excited because we’re still working on ourselves, if that makes sense.

“Obviously, we understand that caliber of team we’re playing. But then, the whole situation is, we are working on ourselves. So the Indianas and Sacramentos and Golden States and tonight in Phoenix — any of those games we could’ve lost and we can beat the Lakers, and it only counts as one win and one loss.”

ESPN’s Malika Andrews contributed to this report.

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Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant to miss at least two games with hamstring strain

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Kevin Durant will miss at least two games for the Brooklyn Nets with a left hamstring strain, the team announced Sunday.

Brooklyn called the strain mild but said in a statement that Durant will be out on Monday against Sacramento and Tuesday against Phoenix while he receives treatment.

Durant played in his first game in a week on Saturday. He had been placed in the league’s health and safety protocols on Feb. 5 after having close contact with a team employee who tested positive for the coronavirus. Durant returned to practice on Feb. 12 and played 33 minutes in Saturday’s win over the Golden State Warriors.

The Nets’ Big Three of Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving have played just seven games together since Harden was traded to Brooklyn in mid-January. That seven-game total includes the game earlier this month against Toronto in which Durant was pulled in the third quarter and placed into the league’s contact tracing protocols.

Durant said Friday he hoped to use the Nets’ five-game West Coast road trip to continue to build on-court chemistry with his new teammates. Now, first-year head coach Steve Nash is tasked with reshuffling a roster that has already seen 17 different starting lineups — tied with the Wizards for most in the league this season, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.

Coming off an Achilles tear that cost him all of last season, Durant is averaging 29 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists this season for Brooklyn. He has missed nine of the Nets’ 28 games this season; Brooklyn is 2-2 without him since trading for Harden last month.

DeAndre Jordan, who missed Saturday’s game for personal reasons, is listed as probable to return on the Nets’ injury report for Monday’s game against the Kings.

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Kyrie Irving tells James Harden, ‘You’re the point guard, and I’m going to play shooting guard’ as Brooklyn Nets settle on roles

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As the Brooklyn Nets ‘big three’ of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving continue to work on building their on-court chemistry, Irving and Harden had a brief conversation at practice this week to clarify their roles.

“We established that maybe four days ago now,” Irving said after the Nets’ 134-117 win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. “I just looked at him, and I said, ‘You’re the point guard, and I’m going to play shooting guard.’ That was as simple as that.”

Irving described the conversation as concise and matter-of-fact.

“It’s not a mystical conversation that we had,” Irving said.

In Saturday’s game against the Warriors, Harden had 16 assists, raising his 11.3 assist per game average since joining the Nets in mid-January. It’s the most assists he has dished out since the 2016-17 season, when he led the league with 11.2 assists per game for the Houston Rockets.

“He’s been taking control of the responsibilities and doing an incredible job,” Irving said. “It just makes my job easier to just go out and play free and just make plays.”

When Harden — a multitime scoring champion — was added to the Nets’ mix, an overriding question was: Is one basketball going to be enough?

Harden had discussed with head coach Steve Nash his willingness to play whatever role necessary upon his arrival from Houston.

On Saturday against the Warriors, Harden, Irving and Durant scored or assisted on 100 points for Brooklyn. Saturday marked the seventh game the trio played together — including last week’s matchup with the Toronto Raptors, during which Durant was yanked from the floor early because of the league’s coronavirus protocols.

Their record together is 5-2, including the loss to the Raptors that Durant was unable to finish.

“I came to this team knowing that they have two special scorers on this team,” Harden said. “Obviously, I score when I need to, but as long as I’m getting everybody involved and Ky (Irving) is getting the shots that he wants, KD is getting the shots that he wants, it’s pretty efficient. Offensively is not the problem for us, we can score in bunches; it’s defensively. It seems like we’re getting a rhythm as of late. We just got to keep it up.”

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Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant won’t travel, may sit multiple games due to contact-tracing protocols

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7:49 PM ET

  • Malika Andrews

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    ESPN Staff Writer
    • Staff Writer
    • Joined ESPN in 2018
    • Appears regularly on ESPN Chicago 1000

  • Adrian Wojnarowski

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    Senior NBA Insider
    • Host of The Woj Pod
    • Joined ESPN in 2017

After a confounding night surrounding the status of Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant at the Barclays Center — which included him getting pulled out of the lineup in the pregame and third quarter for contact-tracing protocols — Durant won’t travel to Philadelphia for Saturday’s game and could be lost for multiple games for the second time in a month, sources tell ESPN.

Durant had come into contact with an associate on Friday who tested positive for the coronavirus Friday night, just hours after returning an inconclusive test shortly before the Nets’ 123-117 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

That inspired a most dramatic third-quarter scene: a Nets official informing Durant that he had to leave the bench for isolation, causing a flustered franchise star to trudge into the bowels of Barclays, where, presumably, he tweeted, “Free Me,” in the final minutes of the game.

The Nets informed the league office of the individual’s inconclusive test on Friday afternoon, and eventually were instructed to pull Durant out of pregame warmups. Nets general manager Sean Marks had been on the phone with the league office and delivered word down to the court.

Moments later, Steve Nash and his coaching staff found out that Durant would not be available to start the game.

Durant left the floor before the game, only to have the NBA clear him to return to the bench shortly after the start of the first quarter.

“Durant was initially held out of the game while that result was being reviewed,” the league statement said. “Under the league’s health and safety protocols, we do not require a player to be quarantined until a close contact has a confirmed positive test.”

Before Durant left the court for the final time during the third quarter, he was sitting on the bench while officials reviewed a play in which he had picked up his fifth foul of the evening. The foul was overturned, but Durant never checked back in.

As the timeout came to an end, a team official told Durant he wouldn’t be able to continue in the game. Durant shook his head in apparent frustration. As he walked back through the tunnel, Durant threw his water bottle.

Durant, who played 19 minutes in the game, kept tweeting on Friday night after the game, questioning the league’s timeline and details.

On the heels of NBA stars LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo ridiculing the NBA and the NBPA’s plans for an Atlanta All-Star game on March 7, there emerged a late-week feeling of superstar revolt.

“I don’t understand the whole thing where he couldn’t play, then he came on the court, then they took him back,” Nets guard James Harden said. “There’s just a lot going on. There’s too much going on. It’s kind of overwhelming. We’re in the midst of a tough game, and these games are going to add up, especially if we’re talking about playoff seeding … to catch a rhythm. It’s overwhelming. It’s frustrating.”

“[Durant] feels the same way. Especially with him already having it and we get tested every single day. He’s been negative. So, I don’t understand what the problem is. The game should’ve been postponed, I feel like. If we’re talking about contact tracing. He was around all of us. So I don’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to play, then allowed to play, then taken back off the court. If that was the case, we should’ve postponed the game.”

Durant contracted the coronavirus in March and still had those antibodies in early January when he was lost for four games because of contact tracing. Four weeks later, Durant could be lost for a similar six-day stretch, sources said.

After Friday’s game, Nash said that he struggled, at times, to compartmentalize Durant’s absence during the game.

“I probably got a little distracted thinking about what it means long-term for our team,” Nash said. “We’ve already been playing guys a lot of minutes and if Kevin is not playing, are we gonna run the remaining guys too many minutes? So maybe I got a little distracted by the big picture.”

The Nets have road games on Saturday (Philadelphia) and Tuesday (Detroit) and return home on Wednesday (Indiana). The Nets start a West Coast trip next Saturday against Golden State.



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LA Clippers’ Paul George says it was ‘disrespectful’ to get only 1 free throw attempt vs. Brooklyn Nets

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Paul George and Kawhi Leonard did their best to go blow for blow with the Brooklyn Nets’ Big Three.

But during the Nets’ 124-120 win over the visiting LA Clippers in a game that lived up to the pregame hype, the Clippers star duo could not keep up with Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, especially at the foul line. Brooklyn’s star trio combined to go 16-for-16 from the line.

Leonard was 8-for-9 at the stripe, but George went to the line only one time in 36 minutes.

“I mean, I think it was disrespectful that I had one free throw attempt today,” said George, who had 26 points and six assists. “I am going to leave it at that.”

The Clippers went to the line only 17 times compared to the Nets’ 26 trips.

George’s only free throw attempt came when he drove and scored against former teammate Landry Shamet under the basket with 6 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the game. George had to almost initiate contact before shedding off the smaller Shamet to get the whistle. His three-point play gave the Clippers a 102-97 lead with 6:58 left.

But in a game with five perennial All-Stars on the floor, George felt he didn’t receive respect from the officiating crew.

“The amount of plays I initiated or created contact,” George argued. “And to get sent to the line [one] time …”

The Nets rebounded from their 149-146 loss to the Washington Wizards by outlasting a Clippers team that had won 10 of its previous 11 games. Irving led all scorers with 39 points, Durant had 28 points and nine rebounds and Harden turned in a triple-double of 23 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.

“Like I said the other night, I took that personal just not being able to guard anyone,” Irving said of losing to the Wizards, who got 41 points from Russell Westbrook and 37 from Bradley Beal.

Leonard scored 33 points to go with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

While George couldn’t get to the line, he and the Clippers discovered in a 2½-minute stretch just how explosive the Nets’ super trio is.

Durant hit a 7-footer. Irving scored eight straight points. Harden then drilled a step-back 3 to complete a 13-0 blitz.

When asked what the Clippers learned from defending the Nets’ Big Three that can help them in the long run, Nic Batum answered immediately.

“One thing for sure: That we miss Pat Bev tonight,” Batum said of the injured Patrick Beverley, who is out with a knee injury. “We forget about that guy a lot, I think. It would be huge for us tonight, so Pat Bev, come back, please.”

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Washington Wizards, led by Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal, capitalize on Brooklyn Nets’ defensive lapses in wild finish

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Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal rattled off a quick six points in a stunning 3.8-second sequence that propelled the Washington Wizards to a 149-146 comeback win over the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night.

“At this time, we don’t have nothing to lose,” Westbrook said. “It’s win or go home.”

The Wizards, down by five points with the shot clock turned off, had seemed to be on their way to a fifth straight loss.

“Honestly, Ish [Smith] just told me to push it and pull it,” Beal said after the game. “That is all we could have done in that situation.”

It worked.

Beal sprinted up the court and pulled up to nail a 3-pointer that brought Washington within two points of Brooklyn with 8.1 seconds remaining. As Nets forward Joe Harris went to quickly inbound the ball at the baseline, teammate Kevin Durant cut toward the basket. The miscommunication allowed Wizards guard Garrison Mathews to steal the ball in the corner and dish it out to Westbrook, who buried another 3 with 4.3 seconds to play.

With the Wizards clinging to a one-point lead, the Nets took a timeout. When play resumed, Nets guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot managed to get a good look at a layup in the final two seconds of the game, but his attempt rolled off the rim.

Two made free throws from Beal sealed Washington’s win.

“We had that game,” Nets guard Kyrie Irving said. “It should’ve been ours, so we just look at ourselves in the mirror and see what we can correct as individuals and as a group — especially on effort. I couldn’t guard a stick today. Those guys were just going right around me, and I was getting frustrated a little bit.”

The Nets led by as many as 18 points at Capital One Arena and had three 25-point scorers in Harris, Irving and Durant. The Wizards and Nets’ combined 295 points amounted to the second-highest-scoring non-overtime game in the past 25 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

But defensively, Brooklyn continued to struggle. The Nets gave up 72 points in the paint, tied for their third most allowed in a game over the past 25 seasons and the most allowed in a contest since 2017. Beal was able to score 22 of his 37 total points in the fourth quarter. The Wizards outscored the Nets 12-2 in clutch time.

“It was the first game all year I had a White Claw,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “I wanted to enjoy it. This is a good feeling. I wanted our players to enjoy it. We fought. We fought hard.

“We’ve done it all year, and the basketball gods gave us a break tonight.”

The Nets’ defensive issues allowed the Wizards to stay in the game. While the final sequence appeared to be the apex of the Nets’ breakdown, Irving said that Harris’ turnover and the subsequent 3 were a “microcosm” of the issues that plagued Brooklyn all night.

“It doesn’t come out of one play,” Harris added. “But same time, I mean, had I not made [the turnover], we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about loss.”

Nets coach Steve Nash called Harris’ turnover “an unfortunate moment” but said it wasn’t to blame for the loss.

“When you give up 149 points, that’s one error in about 50 defensive lapses,” Nash said. “So not good enough defensively, and we can look at the missed layup or the turnover for the 3 there, but we shouldn’t have been in that position. We had a big lead early, and we let them stay around a long, long time until their confidence grew. They’re a desperate [group] looking for a win, and we gave them a chance and gave them life.”

For Durant, “This is one of the ones you’ve just got to get rid of.”

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Brooklyn Nets score 147 to tie franchise record for points in regulation game

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Even with the NBA’s second-leading scorer sitting out, the Brooklyn Nets matched a franchise record Friday for the most points in a regulation game, dropping 147 on the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 22-point win.

“We’re getting there. … We’re slowly inching forward on both ends of the floor,” coach Steve Nash said. “We struggled defensively at times, but we’re getting more solid with our game plan defensively. Offensively, you’re starting to see a little more flow. You’re seeing James [Harden] able to manage the game like that and manipulate the defense.”

By quarter, the Nets scored 36, 40, 39 and 32, building an early lead and consistently scoring throughout the game. They shot 57% from the field, hit 19 3-pointers and had 33 team assists.

With Kevin Durant sitting as part of a resting plan as he continues to work back from his Achilles injury, Kyrie Irving and Harden took the reins, combining for 50 points — 25 apiece.

“We’re catching a rhythm, obviously, offensively,” Harden said. “But defensively as well. We’re learning our strengths and our weakness and things we can get better at.”

The Nets’ offensive explosion has been steadily building, with 10 of their past 11 games featuring at least 110 points. But they’ve also been, to put it kindly, mediocre on the defensive end. The Thunder, who entered the game last in offensive efficiency, still put up 125 points while shooting 46.5% from the floor.

“There’s a familiarity growing, on both ends of the floor. [But] we’ve got a long way to go defensively,” Nash said. “It’s not our forte or strong suit, but we’ve got to be clean with our game plan and talking and participating in our actions.”

Harden and Irving spent various parts of the game orchestrating solo as Nash staggered their minutes. But there were also long stretches in which they played off one another, with Harden doing his usual isolation drive-and-kick thing, while Irving flashed his finishing ability in the paint.

“I’m always gonna say I won’t take any day for granted. This doesn’t happen often in history where you have this group together at this point,” Irving said. “Some of the guys were starters on their respective teams last year; some of the guys are MVP candidates. And to have all of that collective talent and not get the most of it, we’d be doing ourselves a disservice. So we just want to continue to push each other and hold each other accountable.”

Harden credited the overall communication improving among the group, with assignments, coverages and adjustments being called out clearly throughout the game. Irving and Harden were at the front of the scoring, but there was impressive balance to the game as well, with nine players total finishing in double figures.

“It’s very satisfying anytime you get a win, but anytime the whole team plays well and you do some great things as a collective group, it definitely stands out of the rest,” Irving said.

The Nets have won four straight and are 6-2 since making the trade for Harden. There have been some rough spots at times, with Harden going extended stretches less involved in the offense, or Irving’s efficiency dipping, but the chemistry has been building, Nash said, and is something he only expects to improve.

“Offensively, I think guys are getting a feel and a rhythm for one another, how guys like to play, where they like the ball, how they like to move, cut and play off each other,” he said.

Harden said the Nets are maintaining an eye on the process, noting that it’s only going to get harder as the season progresses. As the games get bigger and the season gets smaller, there will be more of a spotlight on the Nets’ chemistry and how they execute.

“We’re gonna be challenged every night; we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Irving said, “but what we’re doing now is just finding the continuity to utilize the strengths we have.”

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