Nets: Harris must keep shooting
Joe Harris led the NBA in 3-point shooting during the regular season. He won the 3-point contest, beating Steph Curry in Curry’s home state.
But in the playoffs? Harris’ stroke has been frightfully bad, and it’s one of the biggest reasons the Nets are in a 3-1 hole heading into Saturday’s Game 5.
“I feel like my shot just comes and goes. Obviously, it’s more magnified right now, but I have stretches in the season, too, where I miss a bunch of shots over the course of five games or so,” Harris said. “Obviously, this just happens to be much more high-pressure and attention on it.”
Well actually, Harris is almost never this bad. He’s now on a three-game streak without hitting a 3-pointer, which is the first time that’s happened since January of 2017. For the series, he’s shooting 19% from beyond the arc – nearly 30% below his average – and 3for-16 overall.
His most egregious miss was a wideopen (emphasis on W I D E) attempt midway through the fourth quarter Saturday. It would’ve given the Nets a 9point lead, and sent Barclays Center into hysteria. The Nets, of course, would end up losing with Harris missing 10 of his 14 field-goal attempts.
“Just keep shooting. We believe he’s the best shooter in the NBA. I believe that,” Caris LeVert said. “I feel like he probably believes that as well. So he just got to keep shooting. It’s going to turn around for him. He might hit 10 in a row next game.”
Curry might have something to say about that “best shooter in the NBA” title, but LeVert’s overall point stands and coach Kenny Atkinson agreed.
“I think he’s big enough, I think his skill is good enough where he can even take more and we’re going to encourage him, we’re going to keep seeking him out, keep trying to get him better shots,” Atkinson said. “But again, I just want him to be more aggressive. I want more attempts quite honestly.”