Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant described new teammate James Harden as “incredible” after the guard recorded a triple-double on his debut for the team in their 122-115 NBA victory over the Orlando Magic on Saturday night.
Harden on Thursday joined the Nets from the Houston Rockets to reunite with Durant — his former teammate at Oklahoma City Thunder — and the duo looked dominant in their first game together with the Brooklyn team.
Durant scored a season-high 42 points while Harden, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2018, became the seventh player in NBA history to register a triple-double in his debut with a new team and finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists.
Photo: AFP
“It was incredible. You could see him trying to figure out the best way to play early on. I felt we all were over-passing, trying to make everybody comfortable,” Durant said. “Then he got into his mode, being aggressive to score. That opened up the whole game for all of us. Glad he got his feet up under him. He’s got to keep plugging away, keep getting better each day.”
Durant said that he was impressed with Harden in the point guard role, with Kyrie Irving missing his sixth straight game due to personal reasons and health and safety protocols.
“James played the same way he always plays ... the same way he was playing in Houston. Handling the ball, being a past-first guard, trying to get his guys good looks,” Durant said. “Coach put him at the point ... I think that’s his natural position. Point, combo guard. For him to come out and get 14 assists, 12 rebounds for us at the point guard was key.”
LEVERT HEALTH ISSUE
Meanwhile, Indiana Pacers guard Caris LeVert, obtained in the four-team NBA deal that sent Harden from Houston to Brooklyn, is out indefinitely with a small mass on his left kidney.
The discovery was made in an magnetic resonance imaging exam as part of a physical before the swap was completed, the Pacers said on Saturday.
“LeVert will undergo further medical tests and more details will follow as needed,” the Pacers said in a statement.
LeVert has averaged 18.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists a game so far in his fifth NBA campaign, all with the Nets, who obtained him in a trade two weeks after the Pacers made him the 20th pick of the 2016 NBA Draft.
“On behalf of my family and myself, we want to thank the Indiana Pacers for their support and guidance,” LeVert said in a statement.
“We are grateful for their extreme thoroughness during the physical process, and I am looking forward to joining the team and being part of this great organization as soon as possible,” he added.
In other games on Saturday, it was:
‧ Spurs 103, Rockets 91
‧ Pistons 120, Heat 100
‧ Raptors 116, Hornets 113
‧ Grizzlies 106, 76ers 104
‧ Trail Blazers 112, Hawks 106
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