Earlier this week, Nets stars Kyrie Irving and James Harden had a brief chat after practice to clarify their on-court roles with the franchise.
“I feel like he’s been doing a great job of just managing the point guard role,” Irving said Brooklyn’s 134-117 win over the Warriors on Saturday night. “We established that maybe four days ago. 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.”
Harden had 16 assists on Saturday night, increasing his total to 11.6 assists per game since joining the Nets in mid-January.
Since making his Brooklyn debut on January 16, Harden leads the NBA in passes made per game, with 73, and in assists points created, with 30.2, according to information provided by Second Spectrum.
Harden is also third in the NBA in touches per game, 98.1, since making his Nets debut on January 16.
Irving averages 76.1 touches per game this season and 49.7 passes per game. He is averaging a career-high 27.6 points per game while shooting a career-high 52.5% from the field.
“He’s been taking control of the responsibilities and doing an incredible job,” Irving said of Harden. “It just makes my job easier to just go out and play free and just make plays. It’s a luxury. I just want to continue it.”
Saturday marked the seventh game in which Irving, Harden and Kevin Durant have played together, including last week’s matchup with the Raptors which saw Durant play just 19 minutes due to league health protocols. Including that game, the Nets are 5-2 when all three have appeared in the same contest.
Brooklyn (16-12) is currently third in the Eastern Conference and set to play the Kings on Sunday.
