Nene content with doing his job ... to perfection
Center was unfamiliar with spotlight that comes from shooting 12-of-12
Nene did not know he was perfect until he checked the statistics sheet.
He did not know the significance of his 12-of-12 place in the NBA record book until his phone began blowing up with text messages.
He never thought he would have to talk about it all until he was told he would have to take a place on the interview room podium after the Rockets’ Game 4 113-109 win Sunday in Oklahoma City.
He was doing his job, he said, and in a way, as special and maybe even series-saving as his performance was, that was how the Rockets looked at it, too.
As often as the Rockets praised his play, they added that he had been doing that — if not to 12-of-12 extremes — all season.
To the Rockets, Nene did not have to go for 28 points and 10 rebounds in relief of struggling starter Clint Capela for his value to be clear. But they enjoyed having the spotlight find him, even if he squirmed with the attention.
“Every category, he checks it off,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “The veteran leadership, he has. He’s mentoring Clint. They’re talking all the time. We need his toughness. Last night, just a terrific performance. He’s been like that all year.
“You have to have guys on your team like that, who know how to take care of themselves on and off the court, how to respond to big games, how to respond to physical games.
“It’s all cute and fun when you are dancing around, but when you get down to mud-slinging, it’s nice to have a guy like that in the back alley with you. That’s where he’s been really good.”
‘A little extra motivation’
He has had a sensational series, making 23 of 25 shots, averaging 13.5 points. Only two players have made at least 90 percent of their shots while taking at least 10; Jim Brewer who made all 10 attempts in the 1979-80 playoffs and Alonzo Mourning, who went 10-of-11 in 2006-07. But Nene reacted with a shrug and a hint of a grin.
“When I step on the court, I just try to do my job, help my team, make the right decision,” Nene said. “When I received a lot of texts, I realized a little bit. But now, my mind in on Game 5. That’s all we should think about. I just do my job.”
Much of that job has been to lead, particularly with the work ethic that has chiseled his powerful 6-10, 250-pound frame and helped him to play in 67 games with few issues.
“I’m one of the first to get here and the last to leave the arena,” Nene, 34, said. “I do a lot of things to take care of myself, take care of my body, to feel fresh when I can. That’s what the young fellas look (to), these actions.
“To be playing for 15 years on that kind of level, that kind of intensity, I have to take care of myself. I have a little extra motivation. I’ve been through a lot of adversity. When you get a little older, you have to take better care of yourself.”
Too focused to realize
That work ethic prepared him for the sort of physical battle Game 4 became. Though he had to know how vital he was to the Rockets’ comeback win, taking a 3-1 series lead, his focus was too tight to know he was on his way to a record-tying shooting performance. He matched Larry McNeill, D’Antoni’s Kansas City-Omaha Kings far more slender, highjumping teammate in 1975, for the most made shots without a miss as the Rockets outscored the Thunder by 24 points in his 25 minutes on the floor.
“I didn’t realize. I didn’t think,” Nene said. “I just do what a coach asks me to do and try to be in the right spot, the right moment and when I have a chance, catch and finish the best way possible. Like I say, I was focused. I was nervous. Everybody was nervous. But when you’re focused, you don’t let any noise, any bad calls, nothing get in your way.
“After the game, yes, I realized a little bit. But that kind of stuff don’t change me.”