Trendon Watford Returns for the Brooklyn Nets: ‘I’ve Been Missing It'

Trendon Watford’s return was a much-needed reinforcement for the Brooklyn Nets, as the team broke a seven-game losing streak with an away win against the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.
Watford had missed Brooklyn’s previous 21 games with a left hamstring strain. He finished with nine points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field to go along with four rebounds and two assists.
He said: “It was good. I’m just glad to be back out there with the guys, just be back playing basketball [...] I’ve been missing it ever since I left the game in Cleveland.”
Watford's last game for the Nets had been on Dec. 16 against the Cavaliers. He’d only featured in 13 contests so far this season, putting up a career-high 8.3 points a night, but can be an important contributor off Brooklyn’s bench.
“We’ve got a lot of versatile guys,” Watford said. “Being able to just play off of each other and then just sharing the ball, I think we did a good job of that, so it was good. Me being back, Ben [Simmons] being back. I feel like we did good in the second unit.”
Watford’s impact as a member of the second unit has already been felt this season. Coincidentally, it was the Hornets who felt the brunt of that on Nov. 19. Nets head coach Jordi Fernández shared his thoughts on the forward's return post-game.
“You can see Trendon’s personality on the court and how much his teammates cheer for him,” he said. “They were happy to have him back and he really helped us.”
One of Watford’s happiest teammates was Tyrese Martin. The two-way swingman, who was inactive against Charlotte, was part of a new 3-point celebration.
Watford explained: “That was just a little insider between me and my dawg Tyrese. [We] hear all the inside noise, hear all the outside noise, and we just jot it down that we notice. So every time we hit a three, that’s the new celly. We just jot it down and note it. It was funny, though. I looked back at him and he was already doing it before me.”
The Nets’ 104-83 win on Wednesday represented the team’s largest margin of victory this season. Fernández lauded how Brooklyn were "very physical” and “connected” on defense alongside the necessary “energy." Watford can add to that for the rest of the season.
“He can handle, he can score,” Fernández said. “Big body that he can [use to] switch, play multiple positions.”
Up next, the Nets visit the Houston Rockets on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. Brooklyn is 15-33 this season.
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