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Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Blue collar’ Patty Mills helps Nets break Canada curse

Patty Mills has earned admission into Blake Griffin’s “Blue Collar Boys” club as their Brooklyn Nets broke a six-year NBA losing streak in Canada.

The Nets’ 116-103 defeat of the Toronto Raptors was their fifth-straight, moving Steve Nash’s men to 7-3 and second in the Eastern Conference behind Philadelphia (8-2).

Not since 2015 had the Nets beaten the Raptors over the border, Mills’ 13 points again handy as they broke a run of 10 straight losses in Canada.

Kevin Durant (31 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) and James Harden (28 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) were in ominous form, scoring at will in the second half to peg back an early deficit.

Forward Blake Griffin, who last season with Joe Harris instigated a “hard-hat celebration” to recognise tough plays, reserved his praise for Boomers star Mills post-game though.

After drawing fouls with some hard-nosed defence in their previous game, Griffin had said Mills’ submitted his membership to the “Blue Collar Boys”.

“As of today, Patty Mills is officially in the Blue Collar Boys,” Griffin said when quizzed of the submission post-game.

“Give it to Patty and it’s a win for all of Australia as well.”

He joked that Durant still “has to jump through a few hoops” to join them.

It’s a sign the high-profile outfit is clicking even without Kyrie Irving, who remains unavailable until he receives his COVID-19 vaccination.

After leading Australia to bronze at the Tokyo Games, the former San Antonio Spurs title winner is shooting at 50 per cent from the field and averaging 10.6 points, 2.8 assists and two rebounds in 25 minutes per game for his new club.

AAP

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