Pregame: James Harden and the Surging, Short-Handed Nets Come To Portland
Opponent: Brooklyn Nets (29-14 overall, 8-2 last 10 games)
Offensive Rating: 117.9 (first)
Defensive Rating: 113.2 (25th)
Net Rating: +4.6 (eighth)
Where: Moda Center (Portland)
When: 7:00 p.m. (PST)
Broadcast: NBC Sports Northwest/YES
Point Spread: Portland -3.5
Moneyline: Portland -168, Brooklyn +142
Over/Under: 232
Injuries/Health
- Portland: Zach Collins (out), Jusuf Nurkic (out)
- Brooklyn: Spencer Dinwiddie (out), Kevin Durant (out), Kyrie Irving (out), Landry Shamet (out)
Primer: The Nets are better than their solid statistical profile suggests, and potentially much better. They're a gaudy 22-8 since acquiring James Harden in mid-January, owning the league's second-best record and top-ranked offense over that timeframe.
Even that 62-win pace in a full regular season doesn't quite do Brooklyn's performance justice during the Harden era. Kevin Durant has only played 10 games with Harden and reminds sidelined by a lingering hamstring injury. Kyrie Irving is not with the Nets this week while addressing family matters, and has already missed five games since the blockbuster trade that got Harden out of Houston.
Brooklyn is 2-2 in games Harden has played a starring solo act, with wins over the Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers and losses to the Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks. Don't be fooled by that limited sample size, the Nets' perceived lack of quality depth nor the Blazers entering Tuesday's game as favorites, though.
Harden's been arguably the best player in the league during his time in Brooklyn, revitalized by much-needed changes of scenery and stylistic approaches offensively. Lineups featuring Harden and elite marksman Joe Harris sans Durant and Irving boast an offensive rating of 121.4, per Cleaning the Glass, and have been surprisingly stingy on defense. Harden and the undermanned Nets, obviously, are fully capable of leaving Moda Center with a win.
Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks deserves immense credit for his team's ever-improving supporting cast in wake of losing so much depth from the Harden trade. Bruce Brown plays a pivotal role for the Nets as a multi-position stopper and ball-screen partner, functioning much more like an athletic 6-foot-9 power forward than stout 6-foot-4 guard. Signing Blake Griffin, who only just debuted with the Nets over the weekend, obviously made many headlines.
But the most intriguing role player to emerge for Brooklyn of late is no doubt Nicolas Claxton, a hyper-fluid big man who missed the first two months of the season with a knee injury. The 31st pick in the 2019 draft, Claxton still has a lot to learn before cementing himself as an impact player in Steve Nash's rotation. Still, jaw-dropping sequences like below make abundantly clear why the Nets are so excited about Claxton's two-way potential as an explosive rim-runner who protects the rim and can switch across multiple positions.
Brooklyn will be baiting Portland into isolation, switching most actions and offering help behind the point of attack. Three-point shooting looms as large as ever against the Nets, but one-one-one scoring will play a big factor on Tuesday, too.
Bottom Line: Harden presents many of the problems Luka Doncic did en route to dissecting the Blazers' defense earlier this week. In a game with plentiful scoring, don't be surprised if it comes down to crunch-time.