NET NOTESDay in, day out, Byron Scott has one message for Lucious Harris.
“The only thing I say to him every day is, ‘Just keep making shots, Lou,’ ” the Net coach related.
Game in and game out of late, Harris has been complying.
In his last 17 games, including last night’s 98-93 OT win over the Pacers, Harris shot .547 (64-of-117), raising his season mark to .522. That’s remarkable really, considering he spends a good deal of time on the perimeter.
“I should be in Vegas right now but it’s in season,” Harris joked, referring to the shooter’s roll he’s riding. “It’s just going in. I worked hard this summer in the gym and it’s paying off for me now. … That’s exactly what he says: ‘Stay hot, Lou, stay hot.’ And I’ve been hot. So every time I come in he says it. Maybe he’s making it work.”
Harris has been invaluable to the Nets, who still are an undeniably young team. Harris, 31, and Aaron Williams, 30, it seems, are the only guys on the bench who shave. The rest of the reserve roster has four rookies and two second-year guys.
“He came into camp in great shape,” Scott said of Harris. “He was ready to play. He’s been very dedicated and one of the guys that we talked about when we talked about our bench, saying we had two veterans and that’s it.
“We need those guys to play well. Well, Lou’s been the steadiest guy out of everybody – not only the bench guys, but the starters.”
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Next up for the Nets is a trip to Washington to see the Wizards and Michael Jordan on Tuesday. Jordan, who scored 51 last night, has played 50 career games against the Nets, and averaged 31.0 points while shooting 561-of-1,119 (.501). He also has averaged 6.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.52 steals.
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Nets says it’s too early to think about such things, but last night’s victory over the Pacers meant an advantage in case of any playoff tie-breakers.
“It’s way too early, but you like to beat them, just in case,” Scott said.