NBA

Lopez struggles in return; Nets fall to Bucks

Here’s the good news: Brook Lopez returned to the court and was pain-free.

Lopez, the Nets’ high-scoring center, made his season debut in last night’s 92-85 loss to the Bucks in Newark after being sidelined for 32 games with a broken right foot.

The big man said he felt fine physically, but delivered just nine points and two rebounds. He shot 2-for-7 from the field and 5-for-11 from the line in 21 minutes.

“In Brook’s case,” coach Avery Johnson said, “you saw a lot of rust in his game tonight.”

Lopez had a minor impact in the loss, and did not play in the final eight minutes. Johnson said before the game he did not think Lopez would log more than 24 minutes, and afterwards the coach said, “He got tired.”

So did the rest of the Nets, who upset the Bulls in Chicago on Saturday. They play their third game in three days tonight when they visit the Knicks. Lopez will sit out before returning to face Dwight Howard and the Magic on Wednesday.

“We didn’t have any legs. That game [Saturday] night took a lot out of us,” said Williams, who led the Nets with 26 points, his fifth straight game of 25-plus, but shot just 10-for-24. “They just really out-hustled us, outworked us.”

Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova did much of that work, annihilating the Nets’ frontline with 29 points and an NBA-season-high-tying 25 rebounds, 13 of them on the offensive glass. That monster statistical night came in spite of Johnson saying Ilyasova “was pretty much the No. 1 guy in our scouting report.”

The Nets, who have dropped nine of 10, were pitiful from the field, shooting just 34 percent, their fourth-worst mark of the season. MarShon Brooks was 3-for-14. Shelden Williams was 1-for-8.

“We just missed shots, for whatever reason,” Brooks said.

Lopez said his stamina felt fine but admitted he felt “a little” rusty. Midway through the first quarter last night, Deron Williams drove and dished to Lopez underneath the hoop. Lopez tried to roll in a layup, but missed it, even if he did draw a foul.

Later, in the fourth quarter, Lopez was fed underneath and tossed up a no-look shot. That didn’t go. A few possessions later, he tried again on a drive, and that didn’t fall either.

Teammates believe it’s only a matter of time for the All-Star-caliber Lopez to re-emerge.

“He’ll get it going,” Brooks said.

On Lopez’s two hoops, he flashed his talent, sinking a short baseline leaner and converting a driving bank shot.

There was undue concern about the health of Lopez’s surgically repaired foot when he switched his sneakers late in the first quarter.

“It felt like there was a little pressure on the arch of my foot in that first pair,” he said. “Once I went to that second one, it was much better.”

* Guard Jordan Farmar (strained groin) is out through the All-Star break. … Anthony Morrow said he will honor late Nets guard Drazen Petrovic by wearing Petrovic’s jersey for the All-Star Three-Point Contest.