Brooklyn Nets forward Reggie Evans had his best game of the season on Wednesday in a win over the Portland Trailblazers, scoring 22 points and grabbing a whopping 26 rebounds. For a player who averages 4.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, it was a standout performance. So what got into him?
Evans says he drew motivation from a teammate who thought he should be benched.
“I got frustrated one day when one of my teammates told my coach to take me out the game,” he told the NY Daily News. “I bit my tongue. I didn’t say nothing to (my teammate).
“But me, knowing me, I usually attack and say something. I bit my tongue. I said, ‘Ok.’ I said, ‘Alright, start being aggressive.’ So I took it in a positive way, instead of just doing my normal self, like ‘What you say? What you say?”
That channeled aggression has led to 7.3 points and 15.5 rebounds per game in the month of March. He has grabbed more than 20 rebounds on four separate occasions during the month, which is no coincidence. When you accomplish something like that, you’re dominating the glass.
Evans did not provide any details about whether he heard the teammate make the comment or if head coach PJ Carlesimo told him about it, but something seems to have clicked. You don’t grab 15.5 rebounds per game over a month stretch without giving 100% effort. The Nets will need that to continue come playoff time if they want to make a run.
H/T The Brooklyn Game via Pro Basketball Talk
