MAJOR SPARKPLUG: The Nets have to find a way to contain high-scoring Nate Robinson if they want to grab a road win in Game 3 tonight in Chicago, writes The Post’s George Willis. (NBA via Getty Images)
CHICAGO — When Nate Robinson first entered the NBA as a rookie with the Knicks in 2005, we weren’t sure how long he would last in the league.
He was 5-foot-9 in a game of giants and as reckless as he was explosive. He was viewed as a college football player who moonlighted as a basketball player. He was more of a novelty then, a little guy who could jump out of the gym and occasionally light up the scoreboard with buckets.
Eight years later, the former slam dunk champion is still reckless, explosive and can score almost at will. And he’s doing it consistently enough these days to keep P.J. Carlesimo up at night as he prepares the Nets for Game 3 against the Bulls tonight at the United Center.
“It’d be hard to overstate the X-factor that he is,” Carlesimo said of Robinson. “He’s a huge X-factor for them in this series. The other guy … people know J.R. [Smith], they know Jamal Crawford, but Nate has become that for Chicago.”
That’s what scares the Nets as they try to wrestle back the home-court advantage after losing Game 2, 90-82, in Brooklyn. J.R. Smith might have won the NBA’s Sixth Man award coming off the bench for the Knicks, while Crawford with the Clippers got plenty of consideration. But Robinson is just as capable of taking over a close game and providing the Bulls with a much-needed scoring threat.
After averaging 13.1 points per game during the regular season, he scored 17 points in 20 minutes of playing time in the Nets’ Game 1 win and he had 11 points Monday. He is shooting 12 of 23 over the two games.
A key matchup tonight and for the remainder of the series is Robinson versus Nets backup guard C.J. Watson. It’s a matchup that already drips bad blood. “I don’t like him and he don’t like me,” Robinson told ESPN Chicago, adding, “When you don’t like somebody and you’re playing against somebody, you want to destroy the other person. You want to shut that person down.”
Robinson embraces his role as the antagonist, the pesky fly you can’t get rid of. He can get under an opponent’s skin with how he celebrates his points. The Bulls don’t mind. Not even coach Tom Thibodeau.
“I tell people all the time that opposites attract,” Robinson said. “Coach is a drill sergeant type and I’m more less a free spirit who just goes with the wind. He likes to control everything. He lets me be me, but at the same time he lets me know if I stray off too far and what I need to know to get better.”
A basketball series can be like an extended chess match. The Nets got the edge in Game 1, but the Bulls stepped up their defense and found a game-plan to shut down Deron Williams, who went from 22 points in Game 1 to eight points on 1-for-9 shooting in Game 2. Containing Williams remains one of the Bulls’ primary objectives tonight.
“We know he’s not going to shoot like that again because he’s one of the best point guards in the game,” Robinson said. “We just want to make it difficult for them and difficult for Joe [Johnson] and shut those guys down and make somebody else beat us.”
The Nets don’t want Robinson to beat them, but can’t be sure about how to go about doing that. It’s difficult to defend against improv.
“Sometimes Nate gets shots and it’s not them diagramming stuff,” Carlesimo said. “It’s Nate … he’s one of those guys who has a knack of creating something when nothing’s there.”
That’s what worries the Nets.