Even with a broken right thumb, James Harden couldn’t resist an opportunity to sink the Nets deeper into their longest losing streak of this rebuilding season on Sunday.
“The Beard” returned from a two-game absence to put up 22 points and eight assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers used a big second half to send Brooklyn to its eighth straight loss, 106-102, in front of 17,804 fans at Downtown’s Barclays Center.
Harden, who played for the Nets from 2021-22 before starting the mass exodus that would eventually result in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving departing, had already torched his former team for 16 points and nine helpers in the Cavaliers’ 112-84 home win on Feb. 19.
The 6-foot-5 future Hall of Famer had just joined the Cavs a week earlier after arriving in a trade deadline deal from the Los Angeles Clippers, marking his second relocation since the Nets dealt him to Philadelphia four years earlier.
Harden took a seat while healing as Cleveland lost to league-leading Detroit in overtime last Friday.
With another game against the Pistons looming for Tuesday, Harden hit the hardwood to get his legs back for the stretch run.
“We needed him tonight,” former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said after watching Harden go 4-for-7 from 3-point range and 8-of-12 at the free-throw line.
“Obviously playing handicapped, he still played really well.”
The Nets (15-45) appeared primed to end their third seven-game slide of the campaign after leading by as many as 11 points in the first half and six at the break.
Brooklyn went up 64-59 on a layup by rookie Nolan Traoré with 6:53 to go in the third quarter.
However, Harden fed ex-Brooklyn center Jarrett Allen for a quick basket before burying a couple of free throws, finding Sam Merrill for a 23-footer and converting a four-point play off a 24-foot pull-up that put Cleveland ahead 70-64.
“I thought in the second half he had that stretch there where we were struggling, he kind of took over, got to the free-throw line, hit a couple 3s, so that was good,” Atkinson added.
Not for Nets fans it wasn’t.
Brooklyn remained winless since a 123-115 victory over Chicago here on Feb. 9.
“I mean, we competed,” Nets coach Jordi Fernández insisted. “That was our main goal, to give ourselves a chance, and I’m proud of the way we played. We played like a basketball team. I’m proud of the group.”
Rookie Danny Wolf kept the Nets within striking distance against Cleveland on Sunday, scoring a team-high 23 points off the bench. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/AP
First-year forward Danny Wolf put up 23 points off the bench for Brooklyn, including two free throws that pulled the Nets within 102-101 with 9.2 ticks showing on the clock.
But former Net point guard Dennis Schröder sank three straight from the charity stripe to settle matters as Cleveland maintained a two-game lead over Toronto for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Michael Porter Jr. scored a team-high 26 points, Traoré finished with 17 and G-League call-up Grant Nelson added 11 in a reserve role for Brooklyn, which will try to avert a ninth straight loss in Miami on Tuesday in the opener of a two-game set.
“Now, it’s go tomorrow, watch some film, clean out some stuff that we could have done better,” lamented Fernández. “Right now, it’s night and day, compared to what we went through.”
Tip-off vs. the Heat is slated for 7:30 p.m.
The game will air locally on the YES Network.
Brooklyn G-League call-up Grant Nelson put up 11 points in 20 minutes off the bench in the Nets’ loss to the Cavs on Sunday. Photo: Yuki Iwamura/AP
NOTHING BUT NET: Nelson was inked to a 10-day contract late last month after averaging 11.1 points on 54.9 percent shooting in 17 starts for the Long Island Nets. He went 4-of-7 from the floor, grabbed four boards, blocked three shots and picked up a steal in 20 minutes against the Cavs. The 6-foot-11 forward out of Alabama earned praise from Brooklyn’s second-year coach. “Yeah, I mean, you already can see the chemistry between Ben [Saraf] Grant, and even Grant and Danny,” Fernández said. “They played summer league together. He’s been part of the club, you know, the extension of our coaching staff in Long Island, working with them. He’s familiar with what we’re doing, and he’s just a very good basketball player, high IQ, he’s got a great feel for the game, and plays extremely hard. So, you put all those things together, and you know he’s played very well in the two chances.” Nelson had three points, two rebounds, four assists and two blocks in his Brooklyn debut at Boston on Friday night. … After taking on the Heat on Tuesday, the Nets and Miami will go at it again Thursday at the Kaseya Center.