Bucks will test new-look Nets tonight
Superstar Harden could provide another inspiring hardwood performance in Brooklyn
As far as debuts go, James Harden experienced one with the Brooklyn Nets that will be remembered for some time.
After getting a triple-double in his first game with the Nets, Harden has fans curious if he can produce an impressive sequel tonight when the Milwaukee Bucks visit Brooklyn for a nationally televised contest between teams many think will meet in the Eastern Conference finals.
Harden made his debut Saturday when the Nets posted a 122-115 victory over the Orlando Magic to get their season-high third straight win. While Kevin Durant scored a season-high 42 points, it was Harden's performance that had the NBA buzzing.
Harden's dynamic performance came in a game where the Nets shot 53.8 per cent and hit 16 3-pointers. It also came as Kyrie Irving missed his sixth straight game due to personal reasons and health and safety protocols.
It is unclear when Irving will return but it is unlikely to occur Monday, marking the third nationally televised game he has missed. The Nets are 4-3 without Irving this season, while Durant is averaging 34.5 points in four games since returning from missing three games due to protocols.
“Hopefully, we're close. I can't really give you a firm update on that. We have to assess that as we go,” coach Steve Nash said of Irving. “We do want to make sure he ramps accordingly so that he's not susceptible to unnecessary injury and protect him the best we can. But hopefully, it will be a short period of time. That is to be determined, though.”
Milwaukee is 14-3 in the past 17 meetings and has won the past eight meetings in Brooklyn.
SURGING LAKERS SET FOR HOLIDAY SHOWDOWN VS. WARRIORS
The Los Angeles Lakers hope to vent three years' worth of holiday frustration on the visiting Golden State Warriors when the Pacific Division powers of recent years go head-to-head tonight in the nightcap of the NBA's Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. The Lakers will be playing on the holiday for the fourth consecutive year.
They've gone winless in the previous three, thumped by a total of 60 points by Memphis, Golden State and Boston.
The 2019 defeat was a 130111 shellacking at home against the Warriors in which Golden State's Klay Thompson made NBA history by making his first 10 3-point attempts during a 44-point explosion.
The Los Angeles native, currently out of action while rehabbing a torn Achilles, tied two NBA records that day — most consecutive made 3-pointers to start a game and most consecutive made threes at any point of a game.
That win was one of nine for the Warriors in their last 11 appearances in the MLK Day showcase.