NBA

Nets rewind: Deron in dangerous minutes territory

Here are my three thoughts on the Nets’ 113-107 loss to the Wizards on Wednesday night:

1. Deron Williams has been terrific since returning to the lineup last week. Through his first five games back from his latest ankle issue, Williams is averaging 18 points and 9.2 assists while shooting 52.5 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from 3-point range.

But there are warning signs behind Williams’ recent re-emergence: Williams is playing far too many minutes.

Even after sitting the entire fourth quarter in a pair of blowouts, Williams is still averaging over 35 minutes in the five games, including playing 41 minutes last Friday in Detroit on the second half of a back-to-back and 42 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to the Wizards.

When the topic was brought up to Nets coach Jason Kidd on Thursday after practice, he said simply, “He’s young.”

Though the Nets are obviously better whenever the 29-year-old Williams is on the floor instead of his backup, Shaun Livingston, they can’t afford to run Williams into the ground, given his injury history. With the amount of trouble the Nets have gone through this season, that is one thing they can ill afford to have crop up again.

2. The Nets are now 0-4 against the Wizards and Pistons, who have one important trait in common: a pair of good, active big men at the 4 and 5 spots.

Yes, Brook Lopez didn’t play in either of the narrow losses game against Detroit (as the Nets likely would point out), Lopez was available for both games against the Wizards, who sport a combo of Nene and Marcin Gortat that gave the Nets fits throughout Wednesday’s game.

Because of Kevin Garnett’s diminished athleticism, understandable given his age and the amount of minutes he’s piled up over his outstanding career, he’s not able to tap a ball up in the air and secure the rebound. Repeatedly during Wednesday’s game, he would tap it up in the air, only for it to end up in the hands of Nene or Gortat for putback layups.

The Nets were expected to excel against bigger frontlines because of the combination of Garnett and Lopez, but that hasn’t proven to be the case.

3. Joe Johnson continued to be a force to be reckoned with, scoring 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. Johnson is averaging 18.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range in December while playing just under 36 minutes per game.

As Kidd acknowledged Wednesday, Johnson has been available for every game and has been the team’s most consistent player. In a season full of inconsistencies, Jonson has been the one constant. Now the Nets just need more of their players to start playing at the same level.