The Big 3 is healthy and Mr. 3 should be, too.
Nets coach Steve Nash delivered a bit of welcome news after Tuesday’s practice when he said Joe Harris, who missed the final three games of the regular season with a left gluteal strain, should be ready to go Saturday for Game 1 of the playoffs. Harris led the Nets by shooting 47.5 percent from 3-point range and making the second-highest total of 3s in single-season franchise history (211).
“Dare I say, we’re almost at full-capacity availability, which is good,” Nash said. “We expect Joe to be ready for the weekend. When he practices and how much he practices is to be determined, but I think he’s feeling better, looking better and he went through our very light, half-speed practice and did his shooting today so all signs there are good.”
It’s been a season of balancing injuries for the Nets, who used 27 different players and had only eight games with James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in the lineup together. None of the past obstacles matter now, except as a point of strength in overcoming adversity.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to up COVID-19-restricted capacities for the NBA playoffs means bigger crowds for Games 1 and 2 and subsequent postseason games at Barclays Center.
At least 50 percent of seating will be set aside for vaccinated fans to attend — the ticket allotment hasn’t been finalized — but a big jump is expected from the 1,773 fans at Sunday’s regular-season finale.
“I’m not quite sure how it’s all going to work out,” Nash said, “but granted if there are more people in the building it should be louder and it should be more fun for everyone. Excited to see the building fill up a little bit and let’s hope we can get safely to as many people as possible.”
Nets guard Mike James will not return to his European team for as long as coach Dimitris Itoudis remains at the helm, CSKA Moscow team president Andrey Vatutin told the Russian Match.
Itoudis and James reportedly had an in-game dispute in March that led to James’ suspension and opportunity to join the Nets on two 10-day contracts that were extended through the end of the season.
James signed a three-year contract with CSKA in 2020, but Itoudis reportedly just signed a new deal through 2023.
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