Kendrick Perkins continued taking shots at Kyrie Irving as James Harden marked his Nets debut with a 30-point triple-double in a win against Orlando.
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James Harden became only the 7th player in NBA history to record a triple-double on debut with a new team. He started the night off slow, recording no points in the first quarter.
Durant and Harden focused on getting their teammates open looks, resulting in Joe Harris and Landry Shamet flourishing. But as the game wore on, both MVPs took over in their own fashion. They went on the offensive, with KD taking an unnaturally high 26 shots from the field.
Durant finished with a season-high 42 points, making over 60% of his 26 attempts on the night. Harden finished with video game numbers of 32 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists on his part. It is a mark of the Beard’s greatness that even without a practice session under his belt, he dished 14 dimes on debut.
Kendrick Perkins takes shots at Kyrie Irving on Twitter following Harden’s debut win
Ever the persistent LeBron truther, Perkins can’t have taken the James Harden trade too well. He still maintains that the Lakers are title favorites, but even he knows in his heart of hearts that the Nets will be unstoppable if they click. Perhaps that is what is prompting him to play down their chances and cohesion as a team:
“Harden and KD look damn good…Kyrie better hurry up back before Nash make him a 6th man. Real Talk!!! Carry on.”
It’s only early days, and the Nets definitely have a huge defensive hole to cover. They need somebody to play interior defense for 20+ minutes a night – DeAndre Jordan looks like he hasn’t ever been an All-NBA player. But it is still tough to see the Harden-KD duo being beaten 4 times in 7 games. It only gets tougher when you add Kyrie Irving to the mix.
