Brooklyn Nets guard Patty Mills has seen a lot in his 13 years in the NBA. He spent most of his career with the San Antonio Spurs and during that time, he saw how championship teams operated and how players related to each other during the winning.
For the Nets this season, Mills has been a little-used reserve off the bench as head coach Jacque Vaughn has decided to play some of the younger players in the rotation like Edmond Sumner and Yuta Watanabe. Mills has his place on the team as a shooter and veteran presence similar to forward Markieff Morris. Mills is playing only 11.8 minutes per game and has been not played in nine games in which he was healthy and active.
Through all of this, Mills has stayed ready despite the inconsistent playing time. His latest appearance was in Wednesday’s 108-107 win over the Atlanta Hawks in which he had 12 points in 12 minutes. However, Mills explained after the game why the Nets are playing so well right now:
“I think the ability of the team to be able to come together on and off the court, you’re seeing trust in everyone. Whether it’s on defense, whether it’s sharing the ball, making big plays, making big shots. You start to see the team gel and count on one another, which is important to be the last team standing.”
Mills is averaging 5.8 points per game on 48% shooting from the field and 43% from behind the three-point line.
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