The Brooklyn Nets vs the Miami Heat game was a very slow one. Not only did the Nets trail behind the Heat in the first quarter, but they hardly put up big numbers on the scoreboard. However, their new addition to the team, James Harden, came to their rescue in the fourth quarter. But Kevin Durant thinks that there is also another reason behind their win against Miami.
Did the Brooklyn Nets ace their defense?
When the Brooklyn Nets added James Harden to the equation, there were a lot of mixed feelings about this. The popular opinion was that Brooklyn would be unmatched and would also be a big threat to the Lakers, who are trying to get their repeat this season.
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But this hasn’t been the case so far. It has been extreme with the Nets because either they perform brilliantly or even lose an easily winnable game. The same happened with Heat. The Nets had looked brilliant in the previous outing against the Heat after defeating them 128-124. Kevin Durant ended with 31 points on the scoreboard, but Harden only finished with 12.
This time, despite a slow start, Harden added 16 points in the last quarter to bring Brooklyn its win. While both Durant and Harden finished with 20 points each, Kyrie Irving did his part by adding 16 points to the final score as well.
But it looks like Durant sees a different angle in this situation. As per Alex Schiffer, Durant said after the game, “Our defense won us this game tonight.”
Kevin Durant: "Our defense won us this game tonight."
— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) January 26, 2021
Where is the trio taking the Nets?
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The Nets are standing fifth in the Eastern Conference right now, with an 11-8 record. Ever since the Nets added Harden, their defense rating is one of the worst in the league. The Nets usually depend on their offense, but this just wasn’t working against Miami.
Hence, they resorted to make defense their priority, which worked out decently well. They forced 12 turnovers out of the Heat and only had 7 turnovers themselves.
It looks like the Nets do have a backup plan when they aren’t efficient on the offense. But this won’t work every time and KD, Kyrie and Harden must give the audience a blockbuster show they’ve been expecting ever since the trade.
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