Smiles, hugs with former teammates and members of the “coaching staff”… LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills were in no hurry to leave the floor of the AT&T Center after the Nets’ victory over the Spurs. Earlier in the evening, the two men had received a joint video tribute, of about two minutes, to salute their passage in Texas.
The first spent more than five seasons in San Antonio (2015-2021) while the second stayed there for an entire decade (2011-2021), after both starting their careers in Portland.
” We knew how emotional it would be for Patty and LA to come back to San Antonio, so I’m glad we were able to get a win for them. “, Appreciates James Harden, adding a wink in the direction of his former team, the Rockets: “ It was better than my own video! “
The emotion was not lacking for this evening ” special “. LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills did not hide a few tears during the broadcast of the video. ” You could say it was a really intimate moment for both of them to come back, I think Patty already had a few tears in her eyes. He was trying to hold back “, describes Kyrie Irving.
” Lots of memories came flooding back just walking into the room, delivers the Australian, only 9 points this night, who had not played in San Antonio as a visitor since 2011. It was cool to be able to share this moment together because we both played here for a while.“
LaMarcus Aldridge “honored” to play with Patty Mills
” Oh man, that was touching. It’s always nice to see what you’ve achieved and those moments that have been special for this franchise and me. I left Portland with a hint of bitterness so it was good to experience it here “, completes the interior, still author of 16 points (8/14) and 7 rebounds, who says to himself “ honored “To have played at Spurs, and to still evolve alongside Patty Mills.
In 2015, when he arrived in Texas, he was asked which teammate he was most looking forward to playing with. Rather than mention the local legends, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili, he had quoted, to everyone’s surprise, the back replacing precisely, already crossed with the Blazers.
Both men have since made their way to Brooklyn with a view to winning the title. It would be the first for Aldridge, the second for Mills already winner in 2014 with the Spurs. The latter, only 13th in the West, have now turned the page on their glorious era.
” Everything has an end at some point, relativizes Gregg Popovich. We are in reconstruction, which has not helped much (Mills). He is very important in Brooklyn. It’s a different group when you have (James) Harden, (Kyrie) Irving and (Kevin) Durant. With these guys on the pitch, he’s a complement player for them. […] We just wanted to make sure he got somewhere with a winning project. It was the same with (Aldridge).“
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Kevin Durant | 36 | 36.5 | 52.0 | 37.2 | 89.4 | 0.6 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 5.8 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 29.2 |
| James Harden | 39 | 37.0 | 41.6 | 33.5 | 86.3 | 0.9 | 7.1 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 4.8 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 22.6 |
| Kyrie Irving | 5 | 34.4 | 50.0 | 33.3 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 22.0 |
| Lamarcus Aldridge | 31 | 23.2 | 57.4 | 33.3 | 86.2 | 1.5 | 4.1 | 5.6 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 13.7 |
| Patty Mills | 43 | 30.9 | 44.0 | 42.6 | 88.6 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 13.4 |
| Joe Harris | 14 | 29.9 | 45.2 | 46.6 | 83.3 | 0.4 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 11.3 |
| Nicholas Claxton | 20 | 22.1 | 65.6 | 0.0 | 61.5 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 9.2 |
| Kessler Edwards | 13 | 25.0 | 45.7 | 43.2 | 100.0 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 8.0 |
| cam thomas | 33 | 17.6 | 43.2 | 23.3 | 78.8 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 7.5 |
| Bruce Brown, Jr. | 35 | 21.6 | 48.3 | 31.2 | 75.9 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 6.6 |
| Day’ron Sharpe | 19 | 11.7 | 60.0 | 33.3 | 65.2 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 4.4 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 6.5 |
| David Duke | 13 | 18.7 | 37.2 | 28.0 | 82.4 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 6.1 |
| Blake Griffin | 34 | 18.8 | 36.9 | 20.7 | 71.7 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 5.9 |
| Deandre’ Bembry | 38 | 19.6 | 58.1 | 44.4 | 59.3 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 5.6 |
| James Johnson | 29 | 17.2 | 48.8 | 25.0 | 35.3 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 4.5 |
| Paul Millsap | 24 | 11.2 | 37.6 | 22.2 | 70.6 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 3.4 |
| Langston Galloway | 4 | 14.6 | 38.5 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 3.0 |
| Jevon Carter | 34 | 11.5 | 30.1 | 28.4 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 |
| James Ennis | 2 | 6.8 | 28.6 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| Shaquille Harrison | 2 | 11.3 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 |
| Wenyen Gabriel | 1 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
