Tag: Patty Mills

Brooklyn Nets’ Patty Mills reminds the world he can still shoot

Recent footage shows that Brooklyn Nets guard Patty Mills can still shoot the ball well.

The Brooklyn Nets were one of the best three-point shooting teams in the NBA during the 2022-23 season as they shot 37.8% from that distance which ranked them fifth in the league. Reserve guard Patty Mills was a reason for Brooklyn shooting the ball so well from three-point land given that he shot 36.6% from there.

Even though Mills has been one of the better three-point shooters in the Association during his 14 seasons (38.9%), he had a down season shooting the three during this past season for the Nets. Mills, 34, shot 36.6% from behind the three-point line and while that still ranked him within the top 100 long-range shooters in the league, it was his third-worst season shooting from that distance.

That could be one reason why Brooklyn head coach Jacque Vaughn decided to cut down Mills’ playing time towards the end of the season. Despite the way that last season ended for Mills, he recently showed that he can still shoot the basketball with the best of them:

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Mock trade has Nets trading Joe Harris and Patty Mills for John Collins

This mock trade suggested by Bleacher Report could be one where the Brooklyn Nets finally get some depth in the frontcourt.

The Brooklyn Nets, like every other team that’s not playing right now in the NBA Finals, are thinking of ways to get better with the draft less than three weeks away. In this downtime between now and the draft, there have been mock trades that have been proposed throughout the internet.

For the Nets, trying to win now is probably their better option as opposed to rebuilding since the Houston Rockets own Brooklyn’s draft for the next few seasons. Various people within the NBA space have suggested that it’s better for the Nets to win as much as they can now since rebuilding wouldn’t benefit them much right now.

The mock trades involving the Nets have been deals in which Brooklyn gets a star-level player at the least in exchange for a valuable player like Mikal Bridges or restricted free-agent Cam Johnson. However, in this mock trade proposed by Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report, Brooklyn trades a couple of players for a guy who’s not very well-regarded right now:

Mock trade has Nets trading Patty Mills for JaVale McGee and 2nd-round pick

This mock trade has the Brooklyn Nets trading Patty Mills for JaVale McGee and a second-round pick.

With the offseason in full effect, the Brooklyn Nets have some time to ponder who they are taking in the 2023 NBA Draft or if they can pull off a trade of some sort. The summer season also comes to its fair share of mock trades and this piece will ponder another one for Brooklyn.

Most of the mock trades for the Nets this offseason have involved players like Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Nic Claxton since those are the most valuable players on the team at the moment. While those players are among the best on the squad, Brooklyn would be using them to acquire a superstar such as Portland Trail Blazer Damian Lillard.

The mock trade that will be evaluated in this article will be less exciting than most trades, but it would still be important to the franchise given the assets involved. Per Jakob Ashlin of Fansided, Brooklyn could look to get some value for veteran guard Patty Mills.

Nets’ Patty Mills says ‘staying ready’ is reason for great game against the Lakers

Patty Mills says “staying ready” was key to his performance in Monday’s win over the Lakers.

Brooklyn Nets guard Patty Mills has had one of those seasons so far with not much going on. In Brooklyn’s 50 games this campaign, Mills has played in only 30 of those contests with most of those games being that he didn’t played due to a coach’s decision. However, Mills has not let the inconsistent playing time affect his preparation for the games.

In Monday’s 121-104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Mills had 21 points and three assists off the bench for the Nets. He was incredible from the moment that he stepped on the floor and he was crucial to Brooklyn’s success in this game all night long. Mills shot 7-of-12 from the field and ended the game +26 in plus/minus.

It’s safe to say that Mills was one of the best players on the court for the Nets on Monday and it was imperative that Mills played well since most of the Nets in the nightly rotation, such as Joe Harris and Seth Curry, struggled mightily shooting the basketball. Mills spoke after the game about how he was able to be ready to give this performance for the Nets when his number was called:

“Well, the mentality is, if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready. And I think being able to stay true to who you are, and not try to be, you know, someone else is important in doing that. But I think, you know, it’s its preparation, its approach, it’s your mindset, and being able to do the work, when no one’s watching. And once your number gets called, whenever it does, you just got to be prepared to take, you know, make the most of that opportunity.”

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Player grades: Seth Curry scores 23 in Nets’ demoralizing 112-102 loss to the Thunder

Here are your Nets player grades for Sunday’s 112-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets welcomed the Oklahoma City Thunder to Barclays Center on Sunday and lost 112-102. This is the first of two meetings between the teams this regular-season. Oklahoma now leads the series 1-0.

For the Nets, Seth Curry had 23 points off the bench and Nic Claxton had 17 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks. Royce O’Neale had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists while Kyrie Irving had 15 points.

For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points and seven rebounds while Josh Giddey had 28 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. Lu Dort had 22 points and Isaiah Joe had nine points off the bench.

In almost a repeat of the loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday, the Nets were competitive for the first three quarters and was up by 10 points at one point. There were too many times where Brooklyn forgot to cover someone, whether at the three-point line or at the rim, and it doomed them in the end.

As has been the case throughout this season, Brooklyn had trouble limiting dribble penetration. Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey were able to get to the rim at will and even with Claxton having four blocks, the Nets struggled to defend the paint. Nets guard Ben Simmons was a late scratch for this game due to back soreness.

Here are your Nets player grades:

Player grades: Kyrie Irving scores 27 as Nets thoroughly beat Spurs 139-103

Here are your Nets player grades for Monday’s beatdown of the Spurs.

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets welcomed the San Antonio Spurs to Barclays Center on Monday and 139-103. This is the first of two matchups between the teams this season.

For the Nets, Kyrie Irving had 27 points and eight rebounds while Kevin Durant had 25 points and 11 assists. TJ Warren had 18 points and two steals off the bench and Seth curry had 16 points and four rebounds.

For the Spurs, Keldon Johnson had 22 points and four rebounds while Devin Vassell had 14 points and three assists. Josh Richardson had 11 points and four rebounds off the bench and Zach Collins had 10 points and two rebounds as a reserve in this game.

Brooklyn started this game strong and never looked back. The Nets won the first quarter 37-25 as they were able to get any shot they wanted as well as locking down the Spurs all over the court.

The secret to this game was Brooklyn’s defense. They held San Antonio to 43.3% from the field and 25.8% from behind the three-point line. For most of the game, specifically before the benches were cleared, the Spurs were under 40% from the field.

San Antonio found it difficult to create any easy shots against Brooklyn’s halfcourt defense, but found more success in transition. The Spurs turned the ball over 18 times, which led to 17 points for the Nets, and lost in almost every facet of this game.

Here are your Nets player grades:

Nets’ Patty Mills says ‘trust in everyone’ is the reason for Brooklyn’s recent success

Patty Mills says that everyone trusting each other has led to the current 10-game winning streak.

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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Player grades: Kyrie Irving scores 28, Nets narrowly beat short-handed Hawks 108-107

Here are the Nets’ grades for Wednesday’s win over the Atlanta Hawks.

The Brooklyn Nets visited State Farm Arena to face the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday and won 108-107. The Nets now lead the regular-season series between the two teams 2-0.

For the Nets, Kyrie Irving had 28 points and eight assists and Kevin Durant had 26 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists. Nic Claxton had 17 points and 10 rebounds while Patty Mills had 12 points with three three’s off the bench.

For the Hawks, Dejounte Murray had 24 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists while John Collins had 21 points and eight rebounds. Onyeka Okongwu had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 14 points and three assists off the bench.

The Nets started this game slowly as they allowed the Hawks to win the first half 63-56 despite Atlanta missing Trae Young, De’Andre Hunter, and Clint Capela. Turnovers were a high factor in this game as Brooklyn turned the ball over 12 times and Atlanta took advantage of those miscues by scoring 18 points off of those turnovers.

As has been the case throughout this season, the Hawks dominated the Nets in the paint 60-50. With Brooklyn not having much size within their normal rotation, a bigger team like Atlanta took advantage of the size differential all game long. In the end, Irving scored 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and Murray missed a three at the buzzer to give the Nets their 10th win in a row.

Here are your Nets player grades:

Player grades: Kyrie Irving scores 32 in Nets’ intense 125-117 win over the Cavaliers

Kyrie Irving dropped 32 points in the Nets’ 125-117 win over the Cavs.

The Brooklyn Nets took a trip on Monday to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers and won 125-117. Brooklyn now leads the regular-season series 1-0.

For the Nets, Kyrie Irving had 32 points and five assists while Kevin Durant had 32 points and nine rebounds. TJ Warren had 23 points and eight rebounds off the bench and Nic Claxton had 10 points and two blocks.

For the Cavaliers, Darius Garland had 46 points and eight assists while Donovan Mitchell had 15 points and five assists. Evan Mobley had 12 points and six rebounds as Cedi Osman had 11 points and two assists off the bench.

This became a game of who was better from behind the three-point line. Brooklyn shot 60% from three-point while the Cavs shot 36.1%. It looks like the Nets concentrated of closing out on the Cavs and making them take mid-range shots or drive to the rim.

Brooklyn won the rebounding battle 38-33, but allowed Cleveland to win the points in the paint battle 48-34. Ultimately, the Nets had everything working in this game as they led by as much as 19 points that gave them the cushion to withstand the Cavs run in the fourth quarter.

Here are your Nets player grades:

Player grades: Kevin Durant swishes 23 as Nets steamroll Warriors 143-113

Nets take care of business against the Warriors

The Brooklyn Nets welcomed the short-handed Golden State Warriors to Barclays Center on Wednesday and won 143-133. The Nets are now on a seven-game winning streak and have won 11 of their past 12 games.

For the Nets, Kevin Durant had 23 points and seven rebounds while Edmond Sumner had 16 points and two assists off the bench. Royce O’Neale had 14 points and Patty Mills had 13 points off the pine.

For the Warriors, James Wiseman had 30 points and six rebounds while Moses Moody had 17 points and three assists. Patrick Baldwin Jr. had 17 points as a reserve and Ty Jerome had 14 points.

This game became lopsided very fast as the Nets were on fire from the field. It was clear that the Warriors were beat up as they did not have the services of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, or Andrew Wiggins. Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving was a late scratch because of tightness in his right calf, but it looked like the Nets didn’t need his services to win this game.

The Warriors did a good job of out-rebounding the Nets and did not have the worst game offensively, but it was clear that they did not have the firepower to keep up with the Nets. Brooklyn found itself getting wide open shots on virtually every possession as it looks like the Warriors were tired and wanted to just go home.

Here are your Nets player grades: