
Steve Nash has a lot of memories from the Phoenix hall as a player, but tonight (Tuesday through Wednesday), he arranged for himself a first memory as a coach. The first time he met the ex as Brooklyn coach Nash, who was missing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irwig, saw James Harden take over the business and sweep the Nets to the biggest comeback the team has known since joining the NBA in 1976.
Nash, as mentioned, had to make do without the injured Durant and Irving. In their absence, the Nets trailed by 24 points as early as the second quarter – but a huge show by “The Bearded” changed the Suns’ plans. “James has a lot of games that you say to yourself ‘it’s unbelievable,'” former player and commentator Kendrick Perkins said, “but the way he took control of the game in the second half was more than special.”
Harden had 38 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds. “That’s the true definition of a team,” Harden said at the conclusion. “When two people get off the episode, other people come up. We didn’t give up despite the difference, we kept fighting and gave ourselves a chance to win. And in the end, things went our way. It was exciting. We could have given up easily, but we won.”
Now, the Nets are with the face, for the first time this season, ahead of the giants battle against the Lakers on Friday. “It always excites me to play against some of the best players in the league, and they got three of those,” LeBron James said ahead of the match. “Of course I would rather be on a full squad in a game against a team like that and see what the balance of power is, but obviously that will not happen.”
Okay I’ve witnessed James Harden have a lot of unbelievable games but the way he took over this game in the second half was beyond SPECIAL !!! He showed us all that it’s levels to this. Just saying tho …
– Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) February 17, 2021
KD and Kyrie were too fired up after Harden’s shot 😄 pic.twitter.com/bbLnjtmOHL
– SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 17, 2021
The Nets trailed by 21 points at halftime of tonight’s victory over Phoenix, marking the largest halftime comeback for the Nets since joining the NBA in 1976. pic.twitter.com/MuZNmPsWsZ
– NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) February 17, 2021