Mike James and Joe Harris must step up for the Nets

With Kyrie Irving and James Harden likely out for Game 5 against the Bucks on Tuesday night, the two guys who will need to step up and deliver for the Nets on the offensive-end of the court are Mike James and Joe Harris. 

During the regular season, Joe Harris was one of the best three-point shooting threats in the league, shooting 47.5% from deep and he played really well in their first-round series against the Celtics, averaging 13.4 points on 51.5% shooting from deep, but he has struggled against the Bucks. 

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Harris scored 19 points and 13 points in Games 1 and 2 respectively against the Bucks, but since then, he has only scored a combined 11 points on 4-19 shooting from the floor. Joe Harris shot 8-16 from three-point range in the first two games against the Bucks and since then, he has shot 3-13, which has dropped his three-point shooting percentage in this series to 37.9%. 

Mike James on the other hand did not play much in the Celtics series, seeing just a total of 10 minutes on the court in the Nets’ first-round series, but in Game 1 against the Bucks, he was fantastic off-the-bench. James scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for the Nets in about 30 minutes with James Harden going down with a hamstring injury. 

In Game 2, Mike James put together another solid game, scoring 10 points, grabbing 3 rebounds and dishing out 3 assists. With Harden being out, James had worked his way into a key role in the Nets rotation against the Bucks, but in the last two games in Milwaukee, he has scored just a total of 7 points and has a total of 4 rebounds and 4 assists. 

Both Mike James and Joe Harris need to play better in Game 5 for the Nets to avoid going down 3-2 in this series. Having two of their three superstars out definitely does not help the Brooklyn Nets in this series, but they have the secondary talent on their roster to still win this series. Kevin Durant, Bruce Brown and Jeff Green are going to be important factors for the Nets in Game 5, but if Joe Harris and Mike James do not play well, then the Bucks will likely win Game 5 and take a commanding 3-2 lead over Brooklyn.