Jason Kidd underwent his own serious knee procedure late in his playing career.
Credit: Getty Images
For the second time in as many games, head coach Jason Kidd began the fourth quarter with Alan Anderson, Mirza Teletovic, Toko Shengelia, Tyshawn Taylor and Mason Plumlee on the court.
That group played the entire fourth quarter against Minnesota and scored 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting in a game that the Nets trailed by 32 through three quarters.
This time they played again after the Nets trailed by 12 after 36 minutes and were somewhat productive, though only Teletovic played the entire period. The group combined for 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting and helped cut the deficit to six points at one instance.
The reason for their extensive appearance came down to effort and work. In other words, Kidd was seeing it more from them than he was witnessing from the starting unit.
“They deserved to play,” Kidd said. “I should have let them play the whole game. They’re playing for one another. It’s not perfect but that group gave us an opportunity.”
In some circles, established players could have expressed disappointment, but when Garnett and Pierce addressed it neither disagreed with Kidd’s decision.
“He’s the coach,” Pierce said. “He makes those decisions. He’s on the sidelines. He sees it. That’s something that’s been plaguing us throughout the year — the third quarter. As a coach he makes those decisions. We’re confident in him that he’s going to make the best decisions for the team.”
“That’s the work group, that’s what he felt,” Garnett said. “Whatever decision he’s going to make as far as who plays, we’re not carrying our weight and obviously he’s going to put somebody in there who is.”
Kidd relates to Rose
A decade ago, Kidd underwent microfracture knee surgery, so he can relate to anyone who undergoes any kind of knee surgery.
The latest knee surgery for an NBA player will happen to Derrick Rose, who will miss the Christmas Day matchup in Brooklyn. Rose will undergo his second knee surgery after injuring the meniscus in his right knee. He will be sidelined him indefinitely.
Kidd had the surgery after the 2003-04 season when the Nets fell one game short of a third straight NBA Finals appearance. He was 31 at the time of his surgery and missed five months, including the first month of the 2004-05 season.
“It will test your belief, your will, because this is fresh for him too coming off the first injury and now the other knee,” Kidd said. “He’s a strong kid and I would bet that he’s going to bounce back from it. That’s his personality, his will and desire to get back. It’s about patience.
“And now it’s the other knee, but he’s a strong kid. I would bet that he’s going to bounce back from it, because that’s just his personality and his will and his desire to get back to that level that hopefully we’ll all see again one day.”
Yormak tweets positive message
The Nets have constantly preached staying positive and that seems to apply to Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormak.
Yormak made his 1,104th tweet a message to Nets fans that said: “We are all in this together. We will work through it. Brooklyn strong.”
Though the tweet had received limited responses, the theme involved hiring Kidd and one responder told Yormak on Twitter they should have hired Brian Shaw or Lionel Hollins instead.
Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.
