It probably wasn’t a coincidence that Nets rookie Derrick Favors was coming off his first good game after a horrible stretch, that Devin Harris was smiling and joking with teammates and media alike at yesterday’s practice.
The Carmelo Anthony ‘Melo-drama had hung like a weight over their shoulders, a weight that seemingly has been lifted.
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov abruptly called off the Nets’ negotiations with Denver on Wednesday, and while the effect on his team is arguable, its performance isn’t. After losing five straight, and 11 of their last dozen, the Nets upset Utah 103-95 with both Harris and Favors — spared a trade, for now — playing a huge role.
“They’re humans. As blatant as the rumors and the speculation and all that stuff was, it’s not easy for those guys,” coach Avery Johnson said.
“For a 19-year-old kid to have to endure what he’s endured, [Favors] can’t even watch TV. Just at the bottom of the ticker, it’s always his name, or [on] some Internet website. He was supposed to be gone two weeks ago, or a month ago, before the season. He’s still here. It’s just pretty hard.”
After going scoreless in two of his last three games, Favors erupted for 12 points, six boards, three blocks and shot 5-of-6 from the floor.
“I didn’t have nothing to worry about, nothing about trades,” said Favors. “I feel good. I feel great. Now I don’t have my friends calling me asking me about it, reporters asking me about it all the time. It’s a big relief. I stopped watching TV. . . . I stopped taking calls. Now they can stop asking because it’s over.”
Johnson said he wants Favors to play more aggressively, and both acknowledged that’s easier to do not looking over one’s shoulder for an impending trade. Before yesterday’s practice, GM Billy King apologized to his players for the very public nature of how this ‘Melo-drama played out in the media.
“He apologized for how things got out in the media. Some of it he could’ve controlled, some of it he can’t. But he’s got a job to do as a general manager and he’s going to continue to do it,” Johnson said. “They’re a bit more relaxed. But . . . GMs have discussions every day; that’s their job. We just didn’t like the process of how it went.”
Harris admitted the incessant trade talk can be a distraction, and King praised the team for how it handled it.
“He said we were complete professionals and he really appreciates the way we carried ourselves,” Harris said. “He said unfortunately some of the things that came out with guys’ names, and it was tough for some of us, but he was glad the way we handled it.
“It was kind of a distraction, but we want to get past it and now some of these games we can win. . . . It becomes very repetitive for some guys. Yeah, it becomes a distraction at some point when it’s talked about, but all we can try to do is focus.”
*** Anthony Morrow practiced and will play tonight for the first time since his Dec. 14 hamstring injury.
“I’m just looking forward to getting on the court, getting back,” he said.