There could have been no other choice.
Devin Harris, who has set the NBA world ablaze with his senses-numbing quickness and scoring, yesterday was named the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week. He earned the honor after leading the Nets to a 3-1 record on their annual Thanksgiving road trip that concluded with the point guard scorching Phoenix for a career-high 47 points. "Other than Kobe [Bryant] when he was averaging 40, I don't remember anyone having a streak like this," said teammate Trenton Hassell. "He's playing like an AllStar."
Mark down Jan. 21. That's when Harris and Chris Paul go head-to-head in New Orleans.
Friction burn-proof clothing is optional.
More than just the Nets and their victims have noticed how Harris, fourth in the league at 25.3 points per game, has propelled the Nets, who seek to run their winning streak to four games tonight against the Wizards in the Meadowlands.
"You watch him out there, and he's just looking at the other guy and saying, 'You can't stop me,' " one rival veteran assistant said yesterday. "He's as quick as they come and to score 47 in a game, 21 in one quarter? His confidence has no limit. If he was at 50 [percent] in Dallas, he's 150 percent confident now. Somebody feels foolish down in Dallas."
Harris, obtained from the Mavs in the Jason Kidd trade last February, averaged 30.0 points in the Nets' 3-1 week - that included a Nets franchise record 17-of-17 free throws in his 47-point detonation (second highest game to Tony Parker's 55-pointer this season). But his rampage has gone on longer. It traces 10 games, to the victory over Detroit Nov. 7 when he sprained his ankle, then missed three games. Since Detroit, Harris has averaged 29.2 points. At 9.2 points, he is second only to Dwyane Wade (9.3) in fourth quarter scoring.
He has outscored the 10 opposing starting point guards, including Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Jose Calderon and Mike Bibby, 292-175, in the streak.
"It's confidence," said Vince Carter, no slouch on the trip at 22.3 points.
"I'm sure teams will come up with defenses and try different things designed to stop him," said team president Rod Thorn. "But with his quickness, his ability to stop on a dime and his ability to accelerate from a standing start, it's just really difficult to stay in front of him."
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Josh Boone underwent anMRI exam on his left ankle. No structural damage was found, Thorn said. . . . The Nets are 7-2 with Brook Lopez starting. . . . Horrible tragedy involving former Net Rodney Rogers: He suffered paralysis from the neck down when his ATV flipped Friday in North Carolina.
