Another day, another medical uncertainty.
Nets guard Joe Johnson sat the last two games with a sore left heel. And while he went through the Nets’ light workout yesterday and “encouraged” coaches, he remains “questionable” for tonight’s game in New Orleans.
“It went great. I felt good just getting out there,” Johnson said before addressing the key question of availability. “I’m not sure yet. We’ll see how it feels after a pretty strenuous workout. I’ll see how it feels in the morning and go from there.”
Johnson was more optimistic than he was for Sunday’s game.
“Hopefully I can get back as soon as possible, but right now I’m just trying to get back healthy,” said Johnson, whose big shot, big play capability was sorely missed in losses to Houston and Memphis. “If I come back too soon maybe it could get worse. This is not something that I want to linger over to the postseason.”
Interim coach P.J. Carlesimo was the one “encouraged” watching Johnson.
“He’s not jumping up and down but he’s moving around. … [He’s] certainly less than 100 percent but I thought it went well,” said Carlesimo who’ll have fingers crossed today. “He may say it feels really good but he may not be able to get out of bed [in the] morning but we were encouraged.”
* Deron Williams wore an elastic sleeve on his left calf, which he tweaked Sunday. That’s fine, he said. The problem has been his cortisone-injected, inflamed ankles that “wear down” as games go on. Williams was ultra aggressive Sunday before tweaking the calf late.
“I feel like the break helped and the shots helped and it’s been a positive effect, and hopefully it continues to get better,” said Williams, averaging 20.3 points, 8.5 assists and shooting .520 on 3-pointers (13-of-25) since the All-Star break.
“It’s not like I haven’t wanted to be aggressive, it’s just like my ankles wear down quarter by quarter and toward the end of the game, it’s like I have no lift,” Williams said.
* Brook Lopez will see a mirror image tonight when he faces twin brother, Robin, in New Orleans. Think there’s a little sibling rivalry going on? “Robin is the worst player in the NBA,” Lopez said jokingly.
* Gerald Wallace is 0-of-7 on 3-pointers in his last four games. “He’s putting more time in, he’s doing more shooting before, after practice,” Carlesimo said, comparing shooting slumps to pro golf. “Guys in the PGA tour, they miss a couple 4- footers then can’t make them for two weeks.. “Confidence is a fragile thing. … But I do think he’ll play his way out of it, and shoot his way out of it.”