Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris has been one of the more consistent players on the team in terms of his role. No matter the composition of the roster or the opponent, Harris’ job is to provide shooting and compete on the defensive end so that he isn’t enough of a liability that he has to be taken off the floor in critical moments.
In Wednesday’s 123-108 win over the Detroit Pistons, Harris performed his role perfectly. He scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from behind the three-point shooting and all of those points came in the first quarter. When Harris first came in the game with 6:52 left in the first quarter as an injury replacement for Cam Johnson, Brooklyn was down 18-20. By the time the first quarter was over, and six three-pointers later, the Nets were leading the Pistons 47-34.
Brooklyn finished the decisive win with 36 assists on 45 made field-goals (80% assist percentage) and that is tied for the highest assist percentage by them this season. The other time Brooklyn had an assist percentage of 80% was a 109-107 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 17 when the Nets had 32 assists on 40 made field-goals. Harris spoke after the game about how the ball-movement was key to beating Detroit:
“Well, ball was really moving. Spence (Dinwiddie) did an unbelievable job there in the first quarter, facilitating. Finding not just me, but a lot of guys shots. That’s usually when I get a lot of shots up or make a lot of shots. It’s usually because the ball is moving, other guys are facilitating.”
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