When the Nets threw the longest winning streak in the NBA, James Harden hit a chair.
Nineteen Saturday’s turnovers meant 32 points for the Mavericks and caused the Nets to look as sloppy with basketball as they were at times before Harden came through the trade. Only this time, Harden was mostly to blame, with a maximum of six rotations in the game as he tried to feed teammates other than the injured trio of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Tyler Johnson.
“I played the same way,” Harden said. “I started out with Bruce [Brown] that I [normally] get, they were diverted. Basket racing, throwing the ball out of bounds – myself, I did. I wasn’t trying to do more than I normally do. I played my game and sometimes you have bad games.
Harden described his turnovers as “sloppy” examples of “trying to thread the needle.” During a timeout in the second half, Harden, who only scored four of his 29 points after the half, withdrew from the seat and dropped an empty chair to the floor with his fist.
“We had some sloppy changes that led to a reduction in the number of seats,” coach Steve Nash said. “That hurts. In the half we only went down four and gave them 20 discount points. That crushed us.”
The Spurs make the fewest rotations per game (11.1) in the league. Therefore, there will be no additional possessions in Monday’s game for the Nets (14.6) to make up for the giveaways.
“[The Mavericks] they were aggressive on defense (jumping down the passing lanes), and they made us speed up a bit and forced us to turn the ball around, “said striker Jeff Green.” So we win, especially when we have guys. “We have to do better. We have to take care of the ball. We have to make sure we get a good shot every time.”
Irving (right shoulder maintenance) was not on Sunday’s injury report. Green (right shoulder contusion) did not play the last 15 minutes against the Mavericks and appears to be questionable against the Spurs. A game was lost last week. Johnson (migraine) is considered likely to return. Guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (right knee pain) started on Saturday, but was added to the injury report as questionable.
Striker Tyler Cook has played 14 minutes during both games since signing a 10-day depth contract. It will be scaled if networks are prudent with Green.
“Especially on defense and rebounding,” Cook said, “I can be of immediate service to this group.”