BOSTON — Damion James was all set to play, wanted to play last night for the Nets against the Celtics.
But then coach Avery Johnson took a look at the rookie and decided to wait just a bit longer.
“In our evaluation and talking to him and talking to Tim [athletic trainer Walsh], just not quite comfortable putting him out there right now,” Johnson said before the Nets’ 94-80 loss to the Celtics last night. “We think he needs two or three more [hard] practices and we’ll all feel better. In talking to him, he wants to say what he thinks we want to hear, but evaluating body language and the look in his eyes we made the evaluation to keep him out.”
So James, who has not played since breaking his foot in his only start Dec. 9 in Dallas, will have a workout today with assistant Doug Overton, get a couple of days off and then return Monday and have a full workout Tuesday.
“I always want to play,” James said. “I wanted to play, I’m not going to lie but this is the best decision for me and my foot.”
Johnson said no decision has been made on the move to send James for some conditioning work in the D-League. Johnson also has stressed he wants to move James into the starting unit sometime after the All-Star break.
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Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who will coach the Eastern All-Stars Sunday, said ex-Nets coach Lawrence Frank will run All-Star practices and the team will use Frank’s playbook.
“The plays that don’t work are his, the ones that work are mine,” he said jokingly.
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For a second straight game, Johnson started Quinton Ross at the start of the second half for Travis Outlaw. . . . The Nets were beaten handily at the foul line. The Celtics shot 30-of-39, and the Nets were 12-of-15. “We’re not going to beat many teams when we get outshot 39-15 at the free throw line,” Johnson said.
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Want a gauge on the Nets? Check out Devin Harris.
When Harris plays with consistency, so do the Nets. When he doesn’t, they don’t.
That was a nutshell assessment by Johnson, and Harris buys it.
“The team goes as I go, probably,” Harris said. “I probably agree with that.”
One stat that supports that theory is that the 17-40 Nets are 7-5 in games where Harris scores 20 or more points. Now 7-5 might now be what every team strives to be, but it beats the stuffing out of 17-40.
“Devin has done a nice job of running our club and I just think the consistency of our team has encapsulated his performance,” said Johnson who stressed the importance of Harris being at the top of his game for the Nets to survive. “When we’ve been really consistent, he’s been consistent. When we’ve been inconsistent, he’s been inconsistent.”
And conversely, Harris thrives when the rest of the Nets do their jobs.
“For Devin to be effective, our shooters got to shoot and make shots,” Johnsno said. “For Devin to be effective, we’ve got to set good screens. We’ve got to run with him on the break.”
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Johnson was up in Brook Lopez‘s mug just 29 seconds into the game when he called a 20-second timeout. What was up?
“I had a defensive error on the first play of the game,” Lopez said. “I wasn’t focused and it led to a wide open layup and that’s certainly not what we want.”