NBA

Nets’ Williams keeps it close vs. Knicks

Big brother was back to join the fight.

Well, the Nets didn’t win, but with Deron Williams back in the fold, they at least had a fighting chance. Anthony Morrow — who scored a season-high 30 in the 120-116 defeat to the Knicks that saw Williams misfire with a chance to tie with 4.9 seconds left — likened the All-Star point guard’s return as having your big brother show up to even the odds.

“It almost is just like that,” Morrow said of Williams, who returned last night after missing six games resting his strained right wrist. “I’ve been asking him every day, ‘How you feeling? How you feeling?’ He understands I just wanted him back.”

And Williams more than evened the odds — although he failed to even the score on the Nets’ final meaningful possession. With the Knicks up two, Williams tried the right side from 15 feet. Williams’ final attempt in his 37 minutes hit the front rim.

“I felt pretty good. It’s not an excuse. I had a good look. Rushed it,” said Williams (22 points, eight assists, eight rebounds), who then gave the Nets a huge scare when he hit the floor and grimaced after trying for the rebound. It looked like the kind of grimace he gave in Milwaukee on March 18 when he last aggravated his wrist injury.

“I got elbowed in the sternum by Kris [Humphries],” Williams said.

Well, that’s a relief. A busted rib is better than a sore wrist.

Williams, who will be day-to-day in Coach Avery Johnson’s eyes but who said he thinks he’ll play in Philadelphia tomorrow, said he felt good overall, despite being off since that Milwaukee game. And he had this game circled, underlined, in red on his calendar. The Garden. The Knicks. The rivalry. He wanted to be a part of it.

“Felt good, I think in spurts. I got my energy. Kind of lost it, got it,” Williams said. “But overall for not practicing in two months and missing a lot of time lately, I felt pretty good.”

But the frustration of a start to the second half that was “pitiful” (his word) took away much of the good feeling — as did the foul trouble he encountered.

“The start of the third quarter was pitiful. I think that’s where they got the momentum and kind of got their swagger back,” Williams said. “It was definitely a frustrating time. I just wish I could get the same calls as Chauncey [Billups] was getting on the other end but . . .

“It was good. It was fun. I always enjoy playing in the Garden,” he added. “There’s so much history in this building and hopefully as we get better and mature we can form a better rivalry.”

fred.kerber@nypost.com