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Harris Takes the Big Shot, Comes Up Short Jan. 28, 2009 by Ben Couch - NJNETS.COM |
East Rutherford, N.J. — As Jose Calderon's long jumper clanged off the rim with 20 seconds remaining in Wednesday's game between the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors, Devin Harris leapt for the rebound. The Nets point guard snared the ball, wheeled around and rocketed down the floor in transition, team trailing by a single point.
The IZOD Center crowd rose in anticipation, but prematurely -- as he closed on the right wing, Harris fumbled the ball. He saved his dribble, curling back to the top of the key and looking for an opening in Toronto's defense.
With his teammates unable to create space, Harris drove at Joey Graham before pulling back hard, creating a Raptor-free zone 16 feet from the basket. Opponents have been juked into similar positions all season, and Harris has made them pay with an improved midrange jumper.
This time, he did not.
Harris' pull-up jumper glanced off the near rim just before the final buzzer, and the Nets were defeated, 107-106.
"That's my go-to move," Harris said. "I couldn't have asked for anything (more), I just missed it. I'm upset with myself because we deserved to win. We fought hard back in that fourth quarter and I wish I could have hit it for (my teammates)."
It was a tough finish to a solid game for Harris, who posted 25 points, 10 assists and three steals, shooting 7-for-17 from the field and 10-for-12 at the free-throw line. Harris estimated the shot was one he could hit with "98.6 percent" accuracy.
But the fifth-year guard is gaining what should prove to be crucial experience as a go-to player in late-game situations. Harris acknowledged this was the first shot he can remember missing that directly resulted in a loss, but just last month Harris was celebrating his first buzzer-beating game-winner, a jumper that pushed the Nets past the Indiana Pacers, 108-107, on Dec. 23.
After the miss, Harris retreated to halfcourt, squatting and pulling his jersey over his head in frustration. Nets guard Vince Carter -- who knows a thing or two about game-deciding shots -- was first to approach Harris, knowing he might be blown off, but wanting to offer few simple words of encouragement.
"Sometimes, you miss a shot like that, you don't want to hear much," Carter said. "I just told him, 'Great shot. That's your move, that's your shot, shoot it again the same way.' Be true to yourself. It was a great look, we got what we wanted, it was unfortunate it didn't go down for him."
On a developing team, with Harris clearly marked as a franchise cornerstone, it would be devastating for the Nets to discover their point guard wanted no part of game-deciding moments. Midway through his first full season in New Jersey, that doesn't seem to be the case, which encourages Coach Lawrence Frank.
"How many has Michael Jordan missed?" Frank asked rhetorically. "This is a make-or-miss league. There are a lot of guys who don't want to take that shot. He had the courage, the floor was spread, he was attacking the basket well all night and he created a wide-open 16-foot shot."
Harris had been slumping of late, with only two 20-plus point games in his last nine prior to Wednesday, and tried to break out early by expending extra energy on defense. He opened the game pressing Jose Calderon the length of the court, even poking the ball away from the turnover-averse Raptors guard on one of the game's first possessions. Though Toronto maintained control after the ball squirted out-of-bounds, the play revealed the intensity of Harris' focus.
He showed a steady hand, scoring six, five, six and eight points in the game's four quarters and assisting three buckets each in the first and second periods before chalking up his final four in the fourth. It was his final game before the All-Star reserves are announced tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET, and ended just short of being memorable.
Perhaps Harris will spend a night twisting the bedsheets in restless slumber, but at least one teammate has advice for shaking it off.
"My thing is I only remember makes," said Keyon Dooling. "I know it seems kind of irrational, but that's how I've programmed myself to think, because if you worry about a miss you won't take the next one."
As one of two gravitational centers around which the Nets offense orbits, Harris will have another opportunity.
What he does with it, only time will tell.
