Phoenix Suns’ Jared Dudley is fouled by New Jersey Nets’ Jordan Farmar. (AP)
PHOENIX — Devin Harris and the Nets played an awful lot like the whole Carmelo Anthony situation last night.
On. Off. Hot. Cold. Up. Down. Speeding away. Stuck in mud.
Now the Nets just hope the Anthony saga ends better than the way their game went against the Suns last night. Up 15 points with a little more than nine minutes to go in regulation, the Nets blew the lead and then lost, 118-109, in overtime, a rather uncomforting way to start a four-game western trip.
“Avery [Johnson[ said this morning, ‘Just set everything aside and just go out there and play. Just go out there free. Just play. Don’t worry about things,’ ” said Harris, who scored 15 points to go along with a career-high-tying 15 assists.
Though Harris, like seven other teammates who have been targeted as potential trade pieces in the Anthony swap meet, said he’s blocking out all the trade stuff, he admits he has “been dealing with it since the summertime.”
Nevertheless, he went out and set a strong tone early.
“This is the Devin that we love and this is the Devin we want to see every night. He had great energy,” said Johnson, who admitted this one was tough. “I really feel for them tonight because I really wanted to win this game.”
Looked like the Nets would. Up 90-75 early in the fourth after a couple of 3-pointers by Jordan Farmar (12 points) and Sasha Vujacic (19 points), the Nets (10-28) were outscored, 28-13, over the last 9:10 of regulation. Phoenix ran off 11 straight points (the Nets lost two when a review determined a Kris Humphries score came after the shot clock) after falling down 15.
“We just let it snowball,” Farmar said. “We let their momentum keep rising.”
Harris made two free throws at 6:02 for a 92-86 lead, but the Suns went up, 93-92, with the end of an 18-2 run. Later he made it 101-101 with two free throws with 47.2 seconds remaining before overtime stud Steve Nash (23 points, 16 assists) drove the lane at :23.1. Harris then responded with his 15th assist to Humphries
(16 points) for the regulation’s final score at :16.3. The Nets got a stop then the Suns stopped them in overtime.
“With a team like that, you know they’re going to come back at some point,” said Harris, who missed Saturday’s loss to Milwaukee with a bruised thigh.
And Harris said he realizes there is a point of no return with a player, any player. He said perhaps the hardest chore for a professional is to feel he’s going to be traded someplace and then be drawn back.
“That really puts a strain on our team, when you tell a guy he’s traded and he has to come back,” said Harris, who even with the non-stop nature of the speculation, said “besides this week” it has not been a major distraction. “That’s one of the really worst things to deal with as a player.
“Since we’ve been through it, they’re sort of used to it,” Harris said. “Even the younger guys.”
But yeah, Harris would like this resolved one way or the other.
“It’s out of my control,” he said. “If I was pulling the strings I’d say yes, but I’m not. We’ve got to do our best to go out and do our job.”
Brook Lopez, in the matchup his twin Robin, had a slight edge, outscoring him 16-11 and outrebounding him, 8-2.
But everything the Nets do is done against the backdrop of the Anthony situation. The Nets have tried since the fall, insistent that if they can get a deal in place, Anthony would accept playing in New Jersey, one state away from his desired team, the Knicks.
On Sunday, there was glowing optimism the deal in some form would get done. On Monday, the excitement waned considerably. Yesterday, there were glimmers of hope again, despite national sentiments Anthony would not come to Newark with the three-year, $65-million extension.