Nets' LaMarcus Aldridge: 'A true blessing' to reach 20,000 career points

LaMarcus Aldridge provided a huge spark for the Nets off the bench Friday night in their 105-98 win over the Indiana Pacers, scoring 17 of his 21 points in the second half. In the process, he became just the 48^th player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points.

“It feels good, man. A true blessing,” said Aldridge, who reached the milestone with one of his patented mid-range jumpers in the third quarter. “Definitely didn’t think it was going to happen after what happened last year. Stuck with it, fought back, and it definitely felt good to get it done and get back out there and just feel blessed.”

The 36-year-old veteran signed with the Nets last season, but announced his retirement after just five games due to an irregular heartbeat.

After getting medical clearance, Aldridge returned to the Nets, and he’s made an impact with his new club.

“He has scoring instincts, something you condition your mind for as a kid,” said Kevin Durant, who has more than 24,000 points of his own. “You just know how to score the basketball no matter what. In any situation, he’s one of those guys that can get his in the midst of a lot of chaos.

“Twenty thousand points for a career. Only, what, 48 players did that? There’s thousands of players who played this game. That’s a huge accomplishment to be looked at as a 20-point scorer your whole career. Congrats to L. I know he wants much more, but this is a huge milestone for him.”

The Nets came into the night just 2-3 on the young season, looking disjointed on offense at times over the first handful of games.

But Aldridge’s 21-point effort helped get the Nets back in the win column.

“Yeah, I mean, he was great,” said Steve Nash. “He obviously scored when we needed it, but also stuck to the game plan and defended, rebounded, made the plays we needed and that as a really important performance, and to cap it off he went into 20,000, which is incredible territory and a testament to what a player, what a career he’s had.”