On December 15, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Nets narrowly defeated the Raptors 131-129. In this campaign, many players, including Harden, were forced to truce because of triggering the league's safety and health agreement, and the Nets only had 8 players to play, in this case, Griffin, who had previously fallen out of rotation, gained 31 minutes of playing time, while he shot 4 of 6, got 13 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, and played a very good performance.
Griffin was the Nets' starting center at the start of the season, but because his three-point shooting rate was so poor, he was removed from the starting lineup by Nash and even took out the regular rotation lineup. But even so, Griffin still did not complain or complain, but instead worked harder in training, before the Nets reporter posted a training video of Griffin, and revealed that he would add three-pointers after the Nets' regular training, always the last to leave the training hall.
It turns out that sweat doesn't go in vain, and in this game, Griffin made a significant improvement in his form on 2-of-4 shooting from outside the three-point line. In addition to being able to shoot three-pointers, Griffin also has some performances, which are more moving.
For example, in overtime, in order to steal the opponent's ball, Griffin once flew to the fish and jumped, directly sliding out of the sideline along the floor, although this ball failed to steal successfully, but Griffin's hard work and fighting spirit made teammates and fans very moved.
In addition, Griffin also had a successful defense against Van Vleet in extra time after 5 fouls on his back, and even his face was hit by VanVleet's elbow due to the low drop in the center of gravity. However, this goal, the referee blew Griffin a defensive foul, Nash took the initiative to apply for a challenge, but still failed, which also led to Griffin's 6 fouls leaving the field.
However, although the referee's blow is controversial, But Griffin's performance, Nash is in the eyes. In an interview after the game, Nash also said, "You can see from Griffin's flying saves how much he wants to win the game." ”
And for Griffin, it's also the perfect time for him to regain Nash's trust. The Nets are now short of manpower, he will definitely get a lot of playing time, and as long as he continues to maintain this kind of hard work, and maintain a stable three-point shooting rate, even if Harden, Aldridge and others return in the future, I believe Nash will still give him trust and reuse.