Leave it to James Harden to cue the scary hours on Halloween.
Harden built on his breakout performance against the Pacers with his first triple double of the season in Brooklyn’s 117-91 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. The performance marked his 13th triple-double since joining the Nets via trade in the middle of last season.
It also signaled a momentum swing in favor of Harden, who had struggled to score and efficiently make plays for his teammates in the first handful of games this season.
Harden finished with 18 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, though he turned the ball over five times. He shot 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-7 from downtown, piloting the Nets to an easy victory against a lowly Pistons team without their No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham.
Cunningham has yet to make his NBA debut this season as he rehabs from a right ankle injury, leaving Pistons forward Jerami Grant as the focal point of Detroit’s offense. The Nets held Grant to just 5-of-13 shooting from the field for 11 points, nine of which were scored in the first quarter.
The Nets only took a three-point lead into the second quarter, a byproduct of their lack of energy against a lesser opponent. Nets head coach Steve Nash responded by playing four energy players at the start of the second: Patty Mills, Jevon Carter, DeAndre’ Bembry and Bruce Brown.
That group helped spark a 36-24 second quarter that blew the doors open for the Nets to run away with the win.
Kevin Durant scored 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting before elbowing Pistons forward Kelly Olynyk in the face in an away-from-the-ball altercation in the third quarter. Officials assessed Durant a flagrant foul penalty two and ejected him for a play not made on the basketball in an upwards movement towards the face.
Durant’s ejection came one game after he was fined for launching a basketball into the crowd against the Pacers on Friday. The chief official admitted after that game Durant should have been ejected for throwing the ball into the crowd, as outlined in the NBA rulebook.
Yet Harden was able to keep the Nets afloat in Durant’s absence, as expected of a former NBA MVP competing against one of the league’s worst teams. He routinely found open teammates, including an alley-oop to Bembry, who cut baseline for a two-handed finish over a Pistons defender, then hung on the rim for style points.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points off the bench, continuing his dominance from the mid-range. Aldridge, who shot 7-of-8 from the field, continues to assert himself as the Nets’ third-best scoring option in the absence of Kyrie Irving. Patty Mills shot 3-of-7 from the field for seven points, and Bembry finished with 15 points in 21 minutes.
The Nets won’t need to lean as heavily on their role players if the Harden of late is the Harden they can expect for the remainder of the season. It has been a slow start: Nash admitted Harden entered training camp out of shape, and he continues to adjust to the new style of officiating. He attempted just three free throws against the Pistons and complained about a lack of calls after taking 19 against the Pacers.
Harden didn’t need the foul line to be effective on Sunday night. He hit a flurry of step-back and side-step threes that helped power the Nets to their fourth victory of the season.
The Nets believe Harden’s play will continue to improve as he both gets in better shape and regains the confidence he lost after a hamstring injury significantly slowed him down to start this season.
A confident, in-shape Harden? Now that’s a scary sight.
