As Royce O’Neale spoke to a small group of reporters in entrance of his locker, Kyrie Irving shouted a phrase that’s turn out to be the Nets’ new catchphrase.
“Trust.”
There needed to be loads of it if the Nets have been going to win Friday night time. There needed to be belief when the Raptors’ flurrying protection acquired the ball out of Kevin Durant’s fingers with the Nets up two with lower than a minute to go within the fourth quarter.
Durant kicked the ball to O’Neale, and O’Neale gave it again. But like a recreation of sizzling potato, Durant gave it proper again to O’Neale — solely this time, O’Neale’s defender was additional away from a profession 39% shooter than he ought to have been.
Only this time, that potato caught in O’Neale’s fingers earlier than he uncorked what would turn out to be the game-winning shot: a 3 from his favourite spot on the ground (the left wing) to place the Nets up by 5 whereas the Raptors used their closing timeout.
O’Neale had missed 5 of his first six photographs earlier than letting that fateful shot fly, a shot that had he missed, the Raptors very effectively might have gained Friday night time’s matchup. Instead of shedding their first two video games of the season, the Nets hit their first street journey at .500.
“These guys trusting me, telling me to keep shooting,” O’Neale mentioned postgame. “[Kevin Durant] had [an off] first half, and we told him to stick with it. He told us ‘thanks for believing in me,’ and that’s what we do to each other.”
The Nets’ first recreation of the season wasn’t nearly testing the new-look offense towards a traditionally vaunted Raptors’ protection. It wasn’t nearly how Ben Simmons seemed in his common season recreation, nor was it about Joe Harris’ return from a sore foot.
The throughline for your entire 48-minute showdown was simply that — belief. Trusting in Durant to ship after he missed his first 5 photographs. Trusting in Kyrie Irving to choose up the slack and captain the offense at occasions when each Simmons and Durant have been on the bench.
The Nets trusted beginning middle Nic Claxton to go coast-to-coast off a defensive rebound, ending with a euro-step round All-Star ahead Pascal Siakam when he may have given the ball to both Irving or Patty Mills, who was forward of him and calling for the ball.
“Coach trusts him,” Durant mentioned after the sport. “His teammates trust him so he can go out there and do his thing.”
There was even the belief issue between head coach Steve Nash and his star level guard, who picked up his fifth foul early into the fourth earlier than Nash challenged the decision. The problem was in the end profitable. Not solely did Irving not decide up his fifth, however officers reversed the decision into an offensive foul on the Raptors.
“We have a lot of trust in our coaching staff, and they do a great job of watching film very quickly,” Irving mentioned. “I think it was a good call. I felt like I didn’t foul, I got over the screen pretty fairly, honestly, but I think that could have gone a different way if I picked up my fifth with I think it was seven minutes left on the clock. It was a big play, a big turning point, and we got to set up our offensive possession next, and after that I felt like we had control of the game.”
The belief went throughout the board. Head coach Steve Nash put veteran ahead Markieff Morris within the recreation till past the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter. He continued to belief O’Neale regardless that Harris, Brooklyn’s poster baby and longtime starter, was out there on the bench. And the best choice was to proceed to belief Durant, who shook off his chilly begin and completed with 27 factors on 8-of-18 taking pictures regardless of lacking every of his first 5 photographs.
“I’m thinking too much out there to start the game,” Durant mentioned. “Just got to settle and that’s what I usually do after that first quarter.”
And if the Nets are going to win huge this season, it’s going to be as a result of they belief one another — possibly they even belief the method — sufficient to know that their expertise can climate any storm an opposing workforce may pose. Simmons didn’t even know O’Neale was one-for-six earlier than hitting the game-winner.
“That’s what trust is. Everybody’s capable of playing the game. Just trust. He did his job, he spaced the floor. Defensively he was incredible, but everyone has slow starts.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com