James Harden may have cropped the Knicks out of The New Yorker cover, but it’s a good thing he’s on it, because in many ways he may have saved the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving era. And if he isn’t healthy for the playoffs, the Nets season almost certainly will end in disappointment.
When the trade for Harden went down, it felt like it may have been a luxury, but it turns out acquiring him was a necessity. Brooklyn is 27-7 with Harden in the lineup, which includes many games without KD and several without Kyrie.