If ever a game existed when the Nets could survive without center Brook Lopez, Monday against the 76ers was it.
Lopez and his inside presence sat a second straight game with a sprained left ankle, but the Nets responded with a team record 21 3-pointers — 10 of them by Joe Johnson, eight of them in the third quarter — to bury perimeter-pathetic Philadelphia 130-94 at Barclays Center.
Hey, even if Lopez had played, who would have noticed? Monday morning, Lopez thought he would play. But then, Columbus thought he landed in India.
“It wasn’t up to me,” Lopez said before the rout.
The call to sit Lopez at least one more game came after coach Jason Kidd and the medical staff got a look at Lopez in the morning workout.
“Brook is going to sit this one out,” said Kidd, who gave Mirza Teletovic his first NBA start — in his 70th game — while plugging in Kevin Garnett at center.
“Brook is a competitor, he wants to play, [but] the medical staff and myself felt it was a risk, he wasn’t 100 percent,” Kidd said. “Guys won’t be 100 percent throughout the season but he wasn’t moving as well as I’d like. … He was taped and ready to go. But the medical staff felt he wasn’t ready and I think he agreed.”
So the Nets more than survived in a division game without their chief inside weapon. Lopez had sprained his left ankle Nov. 15 in Phoenix and sat seven games, returned for seven and then sprained the same ankle Thursday against the Clippers before sitting Friday at Detroit. The Nets are 2-7 this season when he sits.
“He brings a lot,” Johnson said. “He brings a dominant post player who obviously draws double-teams and who can score at will, basically. He makes everybody’s job easier, especially our offense, because he draws double-teams, he kicks out and we get wide-open shots.”
Just what they needed Monday: More wide-open shots.
Lopez, who did not miss a single game in his first three seasons, has since found a different script. A twice-broken foot limited him to five games three seasons ago. Last season, he missed eight games. This season, the count is nine. Lopez thought this latest setback wasn’t too bad.
“I compared it a little bit, but it never felt nearly as severe as my first ankle sprain did.,” said Lopez, who hopes to play Wednesday at home against the Wizards. “I just focused on getting back on the court as quickly as possible.”
Injuries, chemistry, and a coaching staff shake-up all have hampered the Nets. Lopez, Deron Williams and Johnson have started together only 10 times — the Nets were 5-5 in those games. When they have a healthy Lopez, the Nets try to milk their 25-year-old center as much as possible.
“Everything starts with him as far as going inside, getting him established early,” Williams said, “He just poses matchup problems because of how big he is and how skilled he is.”