Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce spoke before the season about joining the Brooklyn Nets as secondary options, but both have needed to increase their roles due to injury problems.

Garnett believes the change in his and Pierce's mindset attributes to the Nets' turnaround, which includes a 10-2 record in January.

“The difference in the way we’re playing is we were thinking secondary as we come in,” Garnett said. “Then Brook [gets hurt], Deron’s been beat up, and we’ve had to be primaries now. When you’re secondary, which [we were for] the first time in our careers, you take a step back. You’re not as forceful … you don’t want to step on everybody’s toes.

"We’re thinking like primaries, we’re out here trying to be aggressive. I think guys on the team are looking for us to be that. I don’t know. I guess the mindset of coming here helping versus being it, is just a difference. We’ve come out with the competitive nature that people know us to be. We’re not asking any questions and our team is looking for us to be that. To lead with that leadership, and that’s the difference.”