NBA

Kidd feels for Bulls’ Rose in time of knee-d

Jason Kidd knows first-hand how difficult it can be to come back from major knee surgery, so it comes as little surprise his heart would go out to Derrick Rose in the wake of Saturday’s announcement the Bulls point guard would be out indefinitely after suffering a medial meniscus tear to his right knee during Friday’s loss in Portland.

“Oof,” Kidd began before Sunday’s 109-97 Nets loss to the Pistons in Brooklyn, shaking his head. “For the work of any athlete who has been hurt, and the time that it takes to get back, and then get back to the level you feel comfortable with and then hurt yourself, it hurts.

“It’s a very unfortunate thing for a very special person and player, and so I hope for a speedy recovery.”

Rose’s injury was to his previously healthy knee, after the All-Star missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL and medial meniscus tear in his left knee.

Back in July 2004, Kidd underwent microfracture surgery on his knee. It was a relatively new procedure at the time, but Kidd returned a few months later as good as new, and continued to excel for the Nets.

“It will test you, your belief, your will,” Kidd said. “This is fresh for him, too, coming off of the first injury and now the other knee … this is something I think he’s going to bounce back from.

“That’s just his personality and his will, his desire is to get back to that level that we’ll hopefully see one day. It’s about patience, and this is a good test for him. But I believe he’ll come out on top.”

After Friday’s 30-point loss to the Timberwolves in Minneapolis, Kidd made a change to his starting lineup, inserting Andray Blatche in place of Reggie Evans.

“Reggie’s been great for us,” Kidd said, “but I told the guys after Minnesota there would probably be a change.”

Blatche finished with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal in 25:43 on Sunday, while Evans had one point and five rebounds in 15:35.

The Nets were once again without Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, Andrei Kirilenko and Jason Terry. It was the eighth straight game Kirilenko has missed with back spasms, the fourth in a row Lopez missed with a sprained left ankle and the second straight missed by Williams (sprained left ankle) and Terry (sore left knee).

Kidd said before the game all four players were “day-to-day,” and declined to elaborate further on their status, but Kirilenko said recently he was on schedule to be cleared for contact Monday, which could make him available for Monday’s practice.

Shaun Livingston, however, banged his head late in the fourth quarter, and was evaluated after the game. The Nets said there would be an update on his condition Monday.