The Nets enter the All-Star break just three games above .500 after Thursday night’s loss to the Wizards, and given the team’s injury and COVID-19 outbreak, all that have occurred in the last two months, Patty Mills says the team could use the breather.
“We’re at a point with what we’ve been through so far in the season, with so much adversity and hurdles…I think we’re at a much-needed break for everyone,” Mills said. “For everyone to get away, see their families, spend some time away, hit the reset button.”
It won’t be as much of a break for Mills, who will be in Cleveland for the 3-point contest this weekend, but he and the rest of his teammates will regroup after sliding from first to eighth in the conference in just under a month, a rough stretch highlighted by an 11-game losing streak and an MCL injury to superstar Kevin Durant.
But the Nets hope to have Durant back shortly after the break, as well as new acquisition Ben Simmons, and believe that as long as health is back on their side, their title aspirations are still very much justified.
“We all came here to win a championship this year,” Mills said. “For us to truly believe that and understand that is where I think we’re at. It will take everyone in the locker room…to buy into what we’re trying to do that, to be able to get this thing done this year.”
While Mills acknowledges that the Nets could use the time away after limping into the break, he also says that the group is tighter than ever after going a big change over the past week, trading away James Harden for Simmons, Andre Drummond, and Seth Curry. Now, with a retooled lineup and reinforcements on the way, the Nets will be ready to make a run and sprint their way back up the conference standings when they return to action.
“I think we're in a very hungry, hungry place right now,” Mills said. “The locker room is as strong as it's ever been this season. We feed off each other's energy. You can see it on the court. I think coming back from the All-Star break, we have players coming back from injury and that will take this thing to another level.”
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