Jacque Vaughn believes the Brooklyn Nets proved what they want to be by fighting back to defeat the Washington Wizards on Saturday.
Cam Thomas scored 44 points from the bench as the Nets overturned a 23-point deficit at Barclays Center.
The Nets were without star players Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving, the latter missing with a calf issue having this week requested a trade.
Irving was not in attendance, with Vaughn saying "we were all in agreement on him not being here", as the Nets coach hailed his team's mental fortitude.
"We stacked the deck, I think, at mentally challenging them tonight," he told reporters.
"We didn't get off to the start that we wanted to, but we responded. We talked about it at half-time that it was more than the physical piece of this game that we were missing, it was the mental piece of this game.
"Definitely a shift in our mentality. And we got rewarded for it.
"It's proof, it's evidence of who we want to be as a team. We talked about what day of the week, what state we're in, how many guys are available.
"It just doesn't matter. You have the ability and the choice to lock in and play and the group that we had did that."
Thomas' points haul was a career-best tally for the 21-year-old, who has played 35 times this season but is yet to make a start.
Edmond Sumner added 29 points but used his post-match press conference to laud his team-mate's match-winning efforts.
"I'm watching him score after score. Cam's a guy that once he gets that type of rhythm, you've just got to let him go," Sumner said.
"He can run off 10, 15, 20 straight. In the fourth quarter, he really picked it up and got it. Get it going, Cam. Go to work my guy. I love it."
Saturday's game marked an 11th start of the season for Sumner, who can empathise with Thomas when it comes to a lack of opportunities.
Sumner added: "People don't see what we really go through every day.
"It's hard not playing games when you're busting your butt every day – it's hard. For you to always stay mentally happy, it's tough.
"I know how hard he works, how talented he is. We stay ready every day, we compete against each other almost every day, so that was huge.
"I love that everybody on this team was happy for him and then we let him go to work."
'We played harder' – Carlisle proud of Pacers' efforts after Indiana force Game 7
Rick Carlisle hailed the efforts of his Indiana Pacers players after they forced their playoff series with the New York Knicks to Game 7.
Carlisle challenged his players directly in the wake of their loss in Game 5, which put them 3-2 down in the series.
And the Pacers responded with a fine display in a 116-103 victory, which sees the series go down to the wire, with Game 7 set for Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
"It was just activity. We played harder tonight, which was a must," Carlisle said.
"We moved the ball better and we got more rebounds, and that's obviously a big key to the series.
"We gotta brace for Sunday. And we must be ready."
Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points and nine assists for the Pacers, and said: "Coaches challenged our effort, I think that was the biggest thing.
"We had some boneheaded things happen [in Game 5].
"He [Carlisle] just really challenged our group [players] 1-15 on how can we be better."
Jalen Brunson finished with 31 points for the Knicks, but he was not overly impressed by his own performance.
"They try to make things difficult," Brunson said. "And I have to adjust as well. Show me different looks and I have to do a better job of reading it."
NBA: Siakam leads Pacers past Knicks to force Game 7 in East semifinals
Pascal Siakam scored 25 points and Myles Turner added 17 as the Indiana Pacers rolled to a 116-103 victory over the New York Knicks to force Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday.
Andrew Nembhard, Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell each added 15 points, with Nembhard grabbing six rebounds and handing out six assists. Haliburton had nine assists as the Pacers remained perfect in six home games in this postseason.
The winner of Game 7 in New York on Sunday will advance to face the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
Jalen Bruson scored 31 points on 11-of-26 shooting after missing his final 11 shots in the first half. Deuce McBride added 20 points with four 3-pointers as the Knicks fell to 0-3 on the road in this series.
Already decimated by injuries, the Knicks lost starting forward Josh Hart in the fourth quarter due to abdominal soreness.
Hart was seen holding his midsection multiple times during the game and asked to be taken out after he had five points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes.
New York is already without All-Star Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic.
Indiana used a 14-6 run in the third quarter to take control, turning a 61-56 lead into a 75-62 advantage. The Pacers maintained at least a 10-point edge the rest of the way.
Conley return completes Timberwolves as they force Nuggets decider
Mike Conley Jr. said his return had completed the Minnesota Timberwolves after they crushed the Denver Nuggets to force a Game 7 in the teams' Western Conference semifinal series.
The Nuggets had the chance to eliminate the Timberwolves at Target Center on Thursday after going 3-2 up in the series, but the hosts roared back to tie things up with a 115-70 rout.
Anthony Edwards led the way with 27 points and Jaden McDaniels added 21 on 8-of-10 shooting, with the Timberwolves' win the second-largest NBA Playoff victory by a team facing elimination in history.
Edwards put the team's improvement down to the return of guard Conley, who missed Game 5 after suffering from soreness in his right Achilles tendon.
Asked what had changed for Minnesota, Edwards said: "We got Mike Conley back. That was it."
Conley said: "Obviously I wanted to play the last game. I just couldn't move at all. Tonight it was a no-brainer.
"I was going to try to find a way. We're just better when we're a complete team."
MVP Nikola Jokic had 22 points and nine rebounds for the defending champions, who were stunned by a 20-0 first-quarter run from the third-seeded Timberwolves.
Asked how Denver would look to forget about the loss, Jokic said: "I think we shouldn't.
"I think we need to let it sink in. It's a great loss. They destroyed us, and we should learn from it."
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