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Harris Has Upper Hand Through Three, But Paul Pushes Past March 1, 2009 by Ben Couch - NJNETS.COM |
East Rutherford, N.J. — Two quarters into Sunday night's game against the New Orleans Hornets, New Jersey Nets point guard Devin Harris was playing well.
Struggling with his shot (2-of-7 FGs), but tallying nine points and five assists against Chris Paul -- the man Harris believes to be the league's No. 1 point -- the Nets' guard kept his team within striking distance at the IZOD Center. Boosted by 13 points from a resurgent Vince Carter (26 total, 9-17 FGs), New Jersey trailed by only seven at the half, 48-41.
Twelve minutes later, Harris' solid performance had evolved into the game's determining force. His 15-point, four-assist third quarter was capped by a icy pullup three in transition with 1.8 seconds on the clock, shot pushing the Nets' score past the Hornets' for the first time since the middle of the opening period.
But on the ensuing inbounds, Nets swingman Jarvis Hayes was called for blocking Paul as he turned upcourt, and the New Orleans point guard swished a pair of free throws 0.8 seconds before the buzzer. The Hornets entered the fourth up one, David West scored 14 straight New Orleans points to wrest away the dominant performance mantle and Paul came up with two clutch steals and one lead-changing jumper to swing a looming loss into a 99-96 win.
"It was definitely a good matchup," said Harris, who finished with 26 points and 14 assists. "I played well and he obviously played well. His scoring really wasn't going, but he was definitely getting guys involved. When you look at it, at the end of the day all that really matters is the win, and he got that.
Paul's first final-minute steal came on a clean rip of Harris, and resulted in a long jumper that gave New Orleans a one-point lead -- their first in 10 minutes -- at 95-94 with 40.5 seconds remaining. As Carter guarded Paul, West initiated a high screen that resulted in Carter taking a step backward before recovering. But Paul had all the room he needed and swished the J.
On the next play, coming out of a timeout, the Nets executed a poor dribble-handoff from Brook Lopez (eight points, 12 rebounds, two blocks) to Harris, leaving the ball exposed enough for Paul to get a hand on it. Paul then missed a triple with Bobby Simmons on him, but Tyson Chandler touch-passed the rebound to Rasual Butler, who hit a pair of free-throws to put the Hornets up three.
With 9.6 seconds to play, Harris nearly lost the ball out of bounds when Vince Carter swung a pass around the perimeter and Paul nearly deflected it. Recovering the loose ball, Harris immediately chucked up a three that hit glass, but bounced to Simmons. Simmons hit two free throws, but James Posey hit two as well, and Harris' catch-and-shoot three at the buzzer hit nothing.
"We all felt like we let one slip away at the end of the fourth," Hayes said. "Anytime you get a team like New Orleans down like we had, you have to put them away, and we didn't."
Hayes (13 points, seven rebounds) played an impressive game, despite again being limited by his sprained left thumb. He shot 5-for-10 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from deep, both makes coming off Harris assists.
It was one of several strong performances by the Nets' bench, which was limited due to Keyon Dooling's absence (sore hip). Sean Williams totaled four points, six rebounds and three blocks in 17 minutes, one of the blocks a spectacularly athletic weakside help swat that turned back a Paul layup after the guard blew by Harris and froze the initial help defender with a tight ball fake. Chris Douglas-Roberts racked up six points and three boards in 11 1/2 minutes, attacking the basket and flying high on the defensive glass.
"We may have worn down a little bit," said Nets coach Lawrence Frank. "But we put ourselves in great position at 94-90 (with two minutes left), and it was anybody's game. We couldn't muster a couple stops and were just trying to get great shots at the other end."
