'Unselfish' James Harden, Kevin Durant take Nets to next level

Asked about what opposing NBA teams are supposed to do when he and his running mate Kevin Durant are on as they were Friday, with their combined 67 points on 22-of-35 shooting in a 120-112 Nets win at the New Orleans Pelicans, James Harden's initial one-word seemed fitting.

"Pray," Harden said. "Nah, I'm just playing. I'm just playing. I mean, it's difficult, man. We're just two unselfish basketball players. We're versatile. Obviously, Kevin is known for his scoring -- efficient scoring -- but he's also a willing passer, especially when there's double teams and things like that.

"So it's difficult to guard him and it's difficult to guard me, especially when we've got it going. We're just so unselfish, want to get our teammates involved and, obviously, we can score the ball, too, as well. So we've just got to find ways and continue that ball movement and make sure everybody's involved that's on the floor."

Harden -- whose game-high 39 points on 11-of-18 shooting and a 6-for-10 clip from deep in 38 minutes marked the most by him during a regular-season game since dropping 38 points March 29 -- showed his continued hamstring-injury-recovery progress. He attacked New Orleans' defense, creating opportunities for -- among others -- Durant and Joe Harris.

"I mean, it's always good for our team when we're aggressive like that because we can create so much getting into the paint," said Durant, who followed Harden with 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting while adding seven rebounds and eight assists in 38 minutes. "But to be honest, Joe Harris really got us going. He started off -- what, I want to say 15 points in the first quarter -- so that eased us up a little bit, to score how we score. But Joe set the tone for us with his scoring, and we just fed off of him."

As Durant alluded to, Harris also stepped up, scoring a season-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting and going 6 for 10 from long range in 37 minutes. Harris, however, deflected the credit back to Harden and Durant for facilitating a next-level Brooklyn offense that shot 50.6% (41 of 81) from the field with a pass-happy 26 assists and 18 triples on 34 attempts (52.9%).

"I mean, they're two of the best players to ever play in this league," Harris said of Harden and Durant, who lead the Nets (9-4) into a game against their former team Sunday, when they host the 5-6 Oklahoma City Thunder in a 7 p.m. tip-off at Barclays Center. "So we're obviously very fortunate to have them both on our team and it makes the game a lot easier for everybody else."