James Harden on Nets' NBA Title Aspirations: 'At Full Strength, Nobody Can Beat Us'

Brooklyn Nets star James Harden is bullish about his team's championship hopes heading into the 2021-22 NBA season.

Harden told Sports Illustrated's Michael Shapiro that he's looking forward to having a full year in Brooklyn and that the Nets have the pieces to be the league's best team with everyone healthy.

"At full strength, nobody can beat us," he said. "I’m just going to leave it at that."

The Nets reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals and were only inches away from sending the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks packing in Game 7.

But fans rarely got to see Brooklyn at full strength, because the team's three best players didn't spend much time on the court together.

The trio of Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving logged only 202 minutes over eight games in the regular season, per NBA.com. Come playoff time, Irving missed the final three games against Milwaukee. Harden was out for three games earlier in the series with a hamstring injury and was still hampered when he returned.

If Irving and Harden hadn't gotten hurt, the Nets might have bested the Bucks en route to a title themselves.

The relative lack of continuity between their Big Three didn't stop the Nets from averaging 123.4 points per game in the first round against the Boston Celtics. They also blew out Milwaukee 125-86 in Game 2 of the conference semifinals despite missing Harden.

According to FanDuel, Brooklyn is the championship favorite at +230, with the Los Angeles Lakers (+400) and Bucks (+850) following behind.

Last year was a reminder of how nothing can be taken for granted when it comes to a title contender, but it's difficult to disagree with Harden's assessment.

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