NBA

Nets’ Williams plays through hand injury

Deron Williams started the game with a painful right wrist, courtesy of a tendon he strained in January. In the first quarter, he suffered a slight cut on the left hand. In the fourth quarter, while driving the lane, his left hand took a shot against somebody’s knee.

It was poignantly observed to Williams that as a point guard, it would be nice to have full use of not only both his hands, but one.

“It’s tough,” said Williams who, after passing out 18 assists, now has 47 as a Net — the most ever by any NBA player in his first three games with a new team.

“It’s been tough for me the last month, month and a half. I can’t play like I want to play — just thinking about everything. Thinking about getting hit, thinking about what I can’t do, on defense I have to play with a closed fist so I don’t reach out and grab somebody. It affects you mentally. I want to be out there and play and try to win some games.”

So now he can think about both hands. His right, actually right wrist, already hurt. Now the left.

“Caught a knee going through the lane somehow,” he said, admitting it began swelling “a little bit” but “I got three days” to rest.”

And the bleeding?

“A little cut. That was different,” said Williams, who won himself an excuse from practice this weekend in London. “Probably not [going to practice]. I’m sure I wasn’t going to before and I’m pretty sure I won’t with this.”

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The practice issue is important. Consider, Williams has all these assists and he has not had a full practice with the Nets.

There have been two shootarounds and three games. Coach Avery Johnson treated yesterday’s shootaround like it was a “mini-practice,” he said.

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The 47 assists in three games by Williams topped Guy Rogers’ 44 in his first three games with the Bulls in 1966. The former Nets mark was 27, by Kevin Porter in 1977.

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One man’s comeback is man’s garbage. While Johnson praised the grit of his team, Suns coach Alvin Gentry went off on his team after blowing a seven-point lead in the last :56.3 of regulation.

“That’s ridiculous. That’s the worst basketball game I’ve seen down the stretch,” said Gentry. “That was horrible. We are lucky as anything to win the game to tell the truth and be honest.”

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Anthony Morrow was magnificent down the stretch in regulation — he nailed a 3-pointer, Williams assisting at :22.0 to get the Nets within two. He hit another, Williams assisting, at :10.7, to get the Nets within one.

After Channing Frye dunked at :08.5 off an inbounds, Morrow goaded Steve Nash into a foul on a 3-pointer at :02.7 to tie. Morrow sank all three free throws.

“I made a mistake at the foul line,” Nash explained. “I thought we were going to foul . . . We had a foul to give. It went longer and longer, and I didn’t hear a foul called. As I looked, the ball came out of the crowd to him. I tried to foul him as he caught it and I actually did. It was kind of ticky tack. They were probably going to call it an and-1 and Morrow’s going to get a four-point play. I was just trying to stop him from shooting. It was my mistake.

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Nets’ next stop is London, where they’ll play the Raptors Friday and Saturday. But they might not have one of their rotation regulars, Jordan Farmar, in either game because of his sprained left ankle.

“He’s going to make the trip but as it looks right now, probably won’t play,” Johnson said of Farmar, who sat last night’s game because of his injury suffered Saturday. “I think his deal is 7-10 days. We’ll treat him on the road, then we’ll see. If he recovers quickly, you could see him probably the second game of the trip.”

Farmar, though, is more optimistic — not that his vote counts.

“It’s much better than I thought. Trying to get out there on Friday. I’ll make it happen,” Farmar said.

Quinton Ross (lower back strain) also was scratched last night while Anthony Morrow was green-lighted, despite a sore left knee due to tendinitis (and he started).

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After two weak shooting performances from Sasha Vujacic (6-of-22) in two starts, the Nets last night went back to Morrow starting.

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Most folks know him from the buzzer-beating, 3-point shot he hoisted last season to beat the Cavs at the buzzer for the Jazz. But Deron Williams knows Sundiata Gaines as a “balanced” point guard who made practices a chore when both were teammates in Utah. The Nets signed Gaines to a 10-day contract yesterday.

“Definitely can score,” said Williams. “He’s a well-balanced point guard, one of the better defenders. He made practice tough on me because of how well he can defend. He picks up full court. He’ll be a great addition right now.”

The Nets needed depth when Farmar went down.

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Johnson on the upcoming London games with Toronto which will have a lot of London media: “It’s probably going to be a playoff atmosphere for two non-playoff teams.”

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Frye on his eventual game-winner: “I was on the bench telling guys that was extremely humbling. They did a good job on me all night, not leaving me, making it extremely tough . . . [but] I took the shot and it went in.”