While coming out of a very average first match (10 points at 4/11 shooting), Joe Harris did not overreact, explaining that he was not at all concerned about how few balloons he had had.
According to him, this lack of collective is explained by the many novelties that New Yorkers have had to face: whether it is the public, more numerous than in the regular season, the starting 5 who had never been aligned before … Finally, nothing very alarming for him, especially when we know that the Nets won this game (93-104).
He said it himself, as long as the Nets progress in their spacing or ball circulation, good things will happen. Patience is the mother of safety. In game 2, Harris was rewarded.
Personal record in Playoffs with 25 units at 9/14 shooting including 7/10 at 3 points. He sets the tone from the 1st quarter, by scoring 15 of his 25 points, in particular thanks to a nice 4/4 behind the arc. It equals the 3-point franchise record in Playoffs, held so far by Deron Williams, who had done just as well behind the arc in the 2015 Playoffs against the Hawks.
Second best scorer of his team on the match (KD had scored 26 points) he largely contributed to the success of the Nets 108-130. Success that allows them to lead 2-0 in the series:
“It’s every shooter’s dream, especially with this group,” said Harris. “Obviously you’re trying to make this possession the best it can be offensively, but these guys were looking for me early in the game after I put in the first two shots. The teams have to deprive us of something. This is a situation where you have to choose your poison with us. The ball circulated and at the start of the game I was often at the reception, open. I don’t take it as a sign of disrespect or anything like that. That’s the reality of the night, we have three of the best offensive players in history. ”
Indeed, since the green defense was already mobilized on the trio James Harden/Kyrie Irving/Kevin Durant, Harris was almost constantly open at 3 points and only had to convert his open shoots. Blessed bread for the most skillful player in the league at 3 points this season (47.5%). In Game 1, Harden, Irving and Durant combined 82 points for a 99-90 victory. They only put in 61 on Tuesday, but they delivered 18 assists. This ball circulation allowed them to win much more easily:
“It’s hard for the opposing team to stay disciplined in defense when Joe Harris comes in from shots like that,” Irving said. “It creates penetration opportunities for us. When you play like that, it makes the game a lot easier. ”
“This is exactly what we talked about this morning,” said Harris. “It’s also in large part, because we knew how to feel the game. In the first game, we were not ourselves offensively. I think it was just finding our bearings, trying to find our way, there was a lot of excitement with the fans coming back. But for this match, a lot has been worked on in training, especially in terms of spacing, positioning and attempting extra passes. We saw in the first game how attracted they were when our guys got into the painting or even how focused they were on Kyrie or James. [Harden] in many situations. ”
Via The NY Post
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