"I was talking to Thiago (Split) and I asked him: 'Should I change my shoes now?' Patti Mills said in response to a reporter's question. Mills's doubts revealed a sense of helplessness.
The emergency struck the Brooklyn Nets like a whirlwind. On December 15, the Nets' Six players, including LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Bembry, James Johnson, and Javin Carter, triggered the COVID-19 safety and health agreement and were unable to play. Among them were James Harden and Bruce Brown, both of whom were removed from the fixture list 1 hour before the start of the game.
Counting Paul Millsap, in 24 hours, seven Nets players were on the NBA's health and safety deal. Kevin Durant was suspicious due to a sore right ankle before the game, and if Durant couldn't play, the Nets wouldn't have 8 players to play against the Toronto Raptors.
On December 13, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, 10 Chicago Bulls players triggered a COVID-19 safety and health agreement. The NBA postponed the Bulls' two games against the Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors in a bid to get players back to health and curb further spread. It was also the first time this season that the game had been postponed due to COVID-19.
With the Bulls postponed, Nets coach Steve Nash admitted he wasn't sure the night would take place as scheduled.
However, the Nets' only eight players remained to die, and eventually narrowly defeated the Raptors 131-129 in overtime. The Nets have four rookies on the rotation: David Duke, Kessler Edwards, Cameron Thomas and Dai Roan Sharp. In this game, veteran Mills became the only person in the Nets' backcourt to rely on, he played 43 minutes, 10 of 20 shots, 30 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, and shot 7 three-pointers. But to win, it's up to the Nets' superstar, Kevin Durant. Despite his sore ankle, Durant exploded in a big triple-double with 34 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in 48 minutes of the game.
Durant has played at least 38 minutes per game in the past eight games, with five games exceeding 40 minutes. This has almost reached the limits of athletes. Nash said: "We have to think about this repeatedly. We had to discuss Kevin's situation. Obviously, we're talking about a star player and we don't want to take that risk either, so we're probably more cautious than he is. But he really wanted to play, and that was it. ”
Presumably that's Durant's "ball nerd", he wants to play, and he doesn't want to see the home audience who has already bought tickets to go home. In the face of exhaustion, Durant played like the fifth game of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Nets and bucks last season in a regular season.
"Man, I can't explain my feelings right now." Durant said in the post-match press conference, "It's only December, we have 7 players who can't play, we could have easily given up this game." But we see an opportunity for us to grow and get better, especially for young players who haven't played really meaningful games in the NBA. ”
"I'm proud to be a part of the Nets and it feels great to play with these young guys."
The Nets' game wasn't perfect. They made a lot of mistakes, such as 16 turnovers, and let their opponents shoot a 44-25 score in the third quarter. Their opponents are not such a strong championship team, although Durant said that "it is an amazing test against a championship team like Toronto", but the record tells us that the championship Raptors have long gone, and the Raptors are now only the 11th team in the East.
But what else is there to say about these points in front of the Nets, who only have 8 players? In the first half of the game, the rookies on the bench were very active. Sharp grabbed 3 offensive rebounds in 5 minutes, relying on the excellent performance of Thomas, Edwards and other substitutes to play a wave of 7-0 small climaxes to achieve a slight lead, and the Nets bench continued to play hard in the second quarter to widen the point difference to double digits. At the end of the first half, the Nets held a 10-point lead, which was already greatly unexpected.
In the third quarter, Fred VanVleet led the Raptors to a three-point rain. That night, the Raptors shot 18 three-pointers across the team, and VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. teamed up to score 12 three-pointers. This year's No. 4 rookie Scotty Barnes cut 23 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists, which is the second time in a month and a half that he has contributed 20+10 data.
In the third quarter of the team's lack of offense was when Durant stepped up to score, and he contributed 11 of 25 points. The long-dormant Blake Griffin shot two three-pointers, and the other bench scored negligible points. In the final quarter, Edwards and Mills broke out to lead the team to lead the team to lead the 26-11 offensive wave, and Mills hit a three-pointer in a row to respond to the Raptors' three-pointer. In the final crucial moment, Mills struck a three-pointer to drag the game into overtime.
Durant swung his scythe in overtime and scored six points, all in the mid-range. The middle distance is Durant's fast knife to kill the enemy. "Big Heart" Mills still maintains a fiery shooting feel and is still scoring. At this time, the Barclays Center has long been full of people. Duke grabbed his 13th rebound and then hit two free throws to secure the win.
"Seeing Edwards, Mills, Griffin perform in the fourth quarter, they inspired me. I was able to score in extra time because they gave me a cushion. Mills is a killer tonight, and [victory] is also a team effort. Durant said with a smile. Applaud these desperate guys.
In the coming weeks, the Nets will have to persevere in the absence of major generals. Next weekend's Christmas battle, they will play against the Los Angeles Lakers. From the 15th to the 22nd, the Nets had five consecutive home games. After that, the Brooklyns will travel west on Dec. 24 to challenge the Portland Trail Blazers, then to Los Angeles against the Lakers and Clippers.
Nash revealed that the vast majority of players who test positive for covid-19 are asymptomatic. However, regardless of symptoms, according to league rules, a player who tests positive must be away for at least 10 days, or at least twice a PCR negative 24 hours apart. Assuming that every player can return in 10 days, the Christmas war will be the earliest return date for absent players.
As for another "missing player", Kyrie Owen, Nash said: "I have a connection with him, but it has nothing to do with the return to the team, just talk about some life things. We contacted last week. There is no intelligence that things are changing. ”
Regarding Irving's return to the Nets, Durant also responded after the game: "Irving is my brother, we have nothing to talk about. I'd rather keep these conversations internal, though. ”
Irving's absence, his other teammates isolated, and the Nets' need to move forward means putting Durant on his shoulders. Even counting the 48-minute playing time, he averaged more playing time this season (36.9 minutes) than he has in any other season since 2013-14 ( his MVP season ).
However, when asked if he was worried about too much time, Durant said it wasn't something he was concerned about. Durant said: "I just want to play, I want to play, I want to win. So let's start here. ”
"So, whatever I need to do to accomplish these three things, I'm going to do it." Durant's answer was simple and firm.