So much has been made this season about James Harden's slow start, so his exploding for 39 points, five rebounds and 12 assists on top of 6-of-10 from beyond the arc and 11-of-15 from the line must have made the Brooklyn Nets' win against the New Orleans Pelicans extra sweet.

One of the main reasons Harden has had a slow start was his recovery from a rather serious hamstring issue from a season ago. That first popped up last March, but he aggravated it in the playoffs and then had to spend the full offseason tending to it. With that said, head coach Steve Nash made sure everyone understood he would need some time to get right.

Then we also learned that the NBA has really made some changes to the rule book, cracking down on non-basketball moves. So that has been a work in progress for Harden as well as he adjusts to the new league. But it looked apparent in the first quarter against the Pelicans that The Beard had some extra sizzle.

And that burst certainly translated into buckets.

James Harden's running mate, MVP candidate Kevin Durant, was also electric. KD finished with 28 points, eight assists and seven boards while knocking down all three of his triple attempts.

After the game, Harden was asked what teams are supposed to do when both he and KD have it going.

“Ummm pray? Just playin,' Im just playin',” joked the 2018 league MVP. “It’s difficult man, we’re 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 its difficult to guard me, especially when we got it going.

“We’re just so unselfish we want to get our teammates involved and obviously we can score the ball as well too so we just gotta find ways to continue that ball movement and make sure that everybody is involved that’s on the floor.”

The Nets shot a ridiculous 52.9 percent from 3-point rang. Joe Harris was “flaming hot” early on, draining his first five triples and finishing 6-of-8 overall from deep.

It was still a two-point game with under three minutes to play, and that's not where the Nets wanted to be coming in. They recently spoke about the importance of closing quarters and halves and putting teams away when they generated a lead. Their bench put things away in the last one in Orlando. But the (now 1-12) Pelicans, playing without Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, showed a lot of heart and forced the brightest Nets stars to shine.

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After the game, KD was asked the same question. How are defenses supposed to handle it when both he and Harden have it going?

“He was aggressive all night,” said the two-time NBA Finals MVP. “Getting downhill, getting to the free throw line, 11 for 18, highly, highly efficient. 12 assists. He just looked incredible….But James did a great job for us tonight controlling the game.”

The Nets are now 9-4, third place in the East. They'll talk about how this win should have been easier and how they are a work in progress, and that's all fair and true. But the most important thing about the game was that Harden looked fast. He looked much more comfortable accelerating to the basket. And if he can at some point play this well on a semi-consistent basis, without any setbacks, it could be “scary times.”

For now defenses can simply pray Brooklyn doesn't have both KD and James cooking at the same time very often.