Nets’ Harris, Yi expected back Saturday
March 19, 2010
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)—The New Jersey Nets are getting reinforcements intheir bid to avoid the worst record in NBA history.
Point guard Devin Harris(notes) and power forward Yi Jianlian(notes) practiced Friday andboth said they will play for the Nets (7-61) on Saturday against the TorontoRaptors at the Izod Center.
Harris has missed the last two games with an upper respiratory infection. Yihas missed the last six with a sprained left ankle.
“Yi made it through practice. Devin made it through practice, so at thispoint I think we will have everyone,” interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe said.
The Nets need to win three of their final 14 games to avoid tying orbreaking the league’s record for single-season futility, a 9-73 mark set by thePhiladelphia 76ers in 1972-73.
New Jersey has lost six in a row, including dreadful efforts in losses toAtlanta and Philadelphia in its last two games.
The team spent time Friday watching the performances, maybe as punishment.
“The effort just has to be there,” Harris said. “I think the wins andlosses will take care of itself. We have to play hard enough in order to winthese games. We, at points in time, play for 39 minutes, maybe 41 and sometimes47, but we need to give those 48 minutes.”
Harris said there are guys who are not playing as much as they want, butthey also need to give maximum effort when they play.
Harris said there has been more talk about the dubious record in recentweeks, but the team is trying to focus on one game at a time.
Without Harris, the Nets played two horrible games, especially the game inPhiladelphia.
“That was not a pretty sight,” Harris said. “We watched a little bittoday in the film room. We didn’t bring it transition wise. We got beat allnight long. It’s tough to win when you give up so many transition points.”
Vandeweghe said he wanted to see how Yi felt at Saturday’s morningshoot-around before deciding whether he would start and how much he will play.
Yi, who wore an ice bag on his ankle after Friday’s workout, said it tookhim a little extra time to warm up but once he got going he was OK.
“I feel pretty good,” Yi said, adding he expects to play on Saturday.
The better scenario for Yi would be to start, since he would be warmed upentering the game.
The return of Harris also should help center Brook Lopez(notes), who has struggledthe past few games on offense without the team’s star point guard dishing tohim.
“Teams have been a little bit more aware (of him),” Harris said. “He’sbeen more of the focal point of the offense. His catches aren’t as deep as theywere earlier in the year. It’s probably both on myself and him—it’s kind of apartnership that way.
“We need to make more of a conscious effort that when he has deep position,we need to give him the ball regardless of if he has an open shot or not. He’sour focal point in the paint. We need to first and foremost try to get him goingand try and get the rest of the guys going.”