T.J. Ford would still be stuck on the end of the bench in a supporting role if not for Watson’s brief absence.

It would have been easy for O’Brien to send Ford back to the bench when Watson returns for Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Bulls if Ford had played badly.
But Ford played well.

“No, I’m not surprised (about my play) because at the end of the day it’s a win-lose situation,” Ford said. “The only successful thing that can come out of this is me playing well. If I didn’t play well, it could have been for multiple reasons. It just showed that even though I wasn’t playing, I was still getting a workout in. I was mentally ready for whatever happened.”

“It’s about being patient, but you know in the NBA, things are always going to come back around.”