Harden safely in the net

NEW YORK • No James Harden, at least for one more game? No Kyrie Irving, for who knows how long? But it was no problem on Wednesday for the Brooklyn Nets.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points to lead the Nets to a 116-109 National Basketball Association (NBA) victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Six other players scored at least 10 points for Brooklyn hours after the team agreed to acquire Harden from the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster four-team trade.

The trade brings together the only two active players to win three consecutive scoring titles.

Harden is the NBA's reigning scoring champion (2018 to 2020) while Durant led the league in points per game from 2010 to 2012, and added a fourth scoring title in 2014.

With the availability of Irving, who missed his fifth straight game due to personal reasons, uncertain, the deal also buys the Nets (7-6) some "superteam" insurance.

Julius Randle scored 30 points for the Knicks (5-7), who have lost four on the bounce.

News that the Rockets would send the disgruntled Harden to Brooklyn in a four-team deal electrified the league before the game.

It had yet to be confirmed, but the four players reported to be on their way out of Brooklyn - Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Rodions Kurucs and Taurean Prince - were unavailable and, according to coach Steve Nash, not at Madison Square Garden for the game.

Durant, however, scoffed at the suggestion the proposed deal had created "drama and chaos" around a team already dealing with the absence of Irving.

"The game simply is enough for us," he said. "The guys are coming out there, enjoying playing every day no matter what the circumstance is.

"There's a lot going on throughout the season, and in this world right now, but basketball is one thing everybody in this locker room enjoys."

Durant, back this season after missing an entire campaign recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, played his first back-to-back nights for the Nets, logging 30 minutes and connecting on 10 of 18 shots from the field, including three from beyond the arc.

The Nets, with Durant and Irving healthy, were already expected to contend in the East. But how exactly the two All-Star players and another in Harden will coexist, remains to be seen.

Nash may get a better picture of how to gel his team when Harden arrives, as the three superstars could vie to be the main man if the past is any indication.

Irving, who spent six seasons with the Cavaliers from 2011 to 2017, blossomed into one of the league's elite point guards with Cleveland. But despite one championship ring in 2016, he asked for a trade amid tension with LeBron James a year later.

Durant (2007) and Harden (2009) started their careers with Oklahoma City Thunder - a team formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics until 2008. Together with Russell Westbrook, they showed some promise of becoming a championship team.

But that potential only went as far as a 4-1 Finals defeat in 2012 by the James-led Miami Heat.

Harden, feeling undervalued by the Thunder, rejected a contract extension and left for Houston.

Nash could have a problem keeping the trio happy, but he believes that having a common goal is key.

"I always talk about making each other better and having all five guys be a threat and working to find commonality on the floor and in space together," he said. "It really is a simple game, but it becomes complicated when you put different personalities and players on the floor. Our group has done a really good job being unselfish and trying to move the ball and work together so I've been proud of that.

"I don't think we've struggled to share the basketball this year."

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE