INDIANAPOLIS — The Giants and Nets both arrived here Monday, but on entirely different missions.
The Giants, of course, are hoping to cap their remarkable turnaround from a 7-7 team with its playoff hopes hanging in the balance with the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl title Sunday against the Patriots.
The Nets, on the other hand, still are trying to lay the foundation for what they hope will eventually be a team capable of competing for a championship.
“I think it’s a great story,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said of the Giants’ turnaround before his team’s 106-99 loss last night to the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. “It’s a great story, and I think we’re gonna be a great story one day.
“We’re going to have a story to tell, but we’re going to keep working at it.”
There’s still plenty of work to be done. They have one championship-worthy foundation piece in Deron Williams, and hope to convince him to stay by acquiring another one in Dwight Howard.
Until then, however, the Nets continue to play with a short deck, and one that’s only grown shorter recently as the team’s list of injuries has continued to grow. Last night, the Nets dressed just 10 players after leaving home three starters — MarShon Brooks (broken toe), DeShawn Stevenson (sore right knee) and Mehmet Okur.
Still, after a terrible showing at home in Sunday’s 94-73 blowout loss to the injury-depleted Raptors, the Nets took a step in the right direction last night against the Pacers, who, at 14-6, are one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.
Their improvement was largely because of the brilliance of Williams, who scored a game-high 34 points and seven assists, and did his best to single-handedly carry the Nets.
But after Williams converted a three-point play to tie the game at 66 with 7:15 remaining in the third, the Pacers went on a 12-0 run, building a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Nets, however, didn’t go down without a fight. The Pacers led by as many as 18 in the fourth quarter, taking a 97-79 lead with 8:35 remaining. But the Nets responded with a 16-1 run over the next 5:20 to cut the lead to 98-95 with 3:15 remaining.
“We’re definitely happy with how we responded, how we fought back,” Williams said. “We didn’t just lay down. It looked pretty grim in that third, like they had all the momentum, but we hung around and hit a couple shots. Then you look up and you’re down 12, and you just chip away at it.”
The combination of Williams and Anthony Morrow, who had 15 points in the fourth and 28 overall, carried the Nets back into the game. But with the Nets trailing 100-97 with 2:28 remaining, Morrow missed a turnaround jumper over Pacers point guard Darren Collison, and the Nets never had another chance.
“Our team got down 12, 14 points, whatever, and we could have put our heads down,” Johnson said. “But they kept battling. And we got within striking distance and, unfortunately, the ball just popped out on us.”