CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jorge Gutierrez made sure to leave an impression in the final game of his second 10-day contract with the Nets.
Gutierrez, whose contract is set to expire at midnight Thursday, was playing well for the Nets and helping them come back in the second half of Wednesday’s 116-111 overtime loss to the Bobcats before he was sent to the showers with 6:42 remaining in the fourth quarter after his hard foul on Cody Zeller was reviewed by the officials and upgraded to a flagrant-two foul.
“I didn’t think it was [that bad],” Gutierrez said, “but I watched the replay and it looked pretty bad. But it wasn’t my intention to do that.”
Until he was forced to leave the game, Gutierrez gave the Nets quality minutes on a night when Shaun Livingston was saddled with foul trouble. Gutierrez finished with six points on 3-for-3 shooting from the field. He also chipped in two rebounds and two assists while not committing any turnovers despite playing through a sprained ankle suffered in the first half.
“I thought he was great tonight,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Jorge played, he sprained an ankle somewhere in the game, continued to keep playing, made shots, made plays. … He’s a tough kid, and I thought he was good tonight.”
The Nets will have to decide by midnight Thursday whether or not to sign Gutierrez for the remainder of the season. And while he said after the game he hadn’t had any discussions with the Nets about what they might decide, he felt good about the way he has performed over the past 20 days.
“I feel really comfortable,” Gutierrez said. “I have great teammates, and they make the game really easy for me. I’m feeling good.
“Like I said, I feel comfortable. I think I’ve played well. Like I said, my teammates make the game easy for me, and we’ll see what happens after this.”