Shaun Livingston is having the best season of his career.
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When Shaun Livingston took the court Wednesday night, he was continuing his career season.
Livingston has played a career-high 1,617 minutes, six more than 2006-07 with the Clippers and scored 506 points, three more than he scored in the same season.
By now, the narrative of Livingston’s journey has been relayed and after Monday, he reflected on reaching it.
“I’m blessed, obviously, coming this far,” Livingston said after Monday night’s game. “Coming this far, I appreciate every minute. Every minute I’m out there I’m very appreciative and thankful for my journey and just trying to keep on.”
“Incredible. It’s a great story all the way around,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s a great person on and off the court and he deserves everything that he’s been recognized for. He sets the table; he guards the best player on the other side. For minutes, maybe I am playing him too much, but he’s responded. Again, I couldn’t ask for a better player to coach and be around.”
Of course, Livingston is having this career year on a one-year deal and the Nets might not have enough money to re-sign him depending on what the market bears. But in various radio interviews, he has stated he’s enjoying his time with the Nets and will focus on free agency when the time comes.
Pierce: Seeding not a concern
At media day, Paul Pierce said winning the Atlantic Division would not be cause for celebration.
It appears he is taking the same tact when commenting about where the Nets wind up seeded in the postseason.
“We haven’t really said where we want to be [seeded],” Pierce said after practice a day before facing Charlotte. “We obviously want to win the division, but we know that even if we do start on the road, we’re a more than capable team that can get the job done on the road.”
The Nets seem most likely to finish anywhere between third and sixth in the East. Entering Wednesday, they were 1 percentage point ahead of Washington for fifth, two games behind Chicago for fourth and 2 1/2 games behind division-leading Toronto.
Nets in the NCAA tournament
Since the Nets are the one of the more veteran teams in the league, it’s a fair assumption that many players have extensive NCAA tournament experience.
The current members of the team combined have played in 71 NCAA tournament games and three have reached the title game. Deron Williams reached the 2005 title game with Illinois when he scored 17 points in a loss to North Carolina. Mason Plumlee played three minutes as a freshman in Duke’s 2010 title game victory over Butler and Marquis Teague scored 80 points in Kentucky’s 2012 championship run.
The Net starter with the most experience without reaching a title game is Pierce, who played nine games with Kansas, which lost to Syracuse in the Elite 8 in 1996, Arizona in the Sweet 16 in 1997 and Rhode Island in the second round in 1998.
The Net who appeared in the most games without reaching a title game is Alan Anderson, who played in 12 games with Michigan State from 2002 to 2005.
Also, Kidd played on a Cal team which denied Duke a chance at a three-peat in 1993.
Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.
