NBA

Healthy Humphries sits out

With the Nets in a slump for the entire month of December, it came as no surprise that Avery Johnson decided to shake up his rotation for yesterday’s game against the 76ers.

The player who saw his minutes take the biggest hit was Kris Humphries, who never got into yesterday’s 95-92 win at the Barclays Center after starting 20 of the first 25 games and playing in all of them.

“I visited with him in my office before [the game], and this was basically a coach’s decision,” Johnson said. “It’s nothing to do with Humphries. He was healthy … he is fine. He’s not in the doghouse.

“We just had to try something else, and we’ll see how long we can go with it.”

Yesterday’s DNP was the latest step in what has been a gradual reduction in minutes for Humphries, who played fewer than 20 minutes in five of the previous six games. But Humphries, who signed a two-year, $24 million contract as a free agent in July to return to the Nets after averaging a double-double each of the past two seasons, admitted not playing came as a bit of a surprise.

“[Johnson] just said he was starting Gerald [Wallace] and it was going to be inconsistent for a little while,” Humphries said. “I didn’t know it was going to be a DNP, but you have to be ready for anything in the NBA.”

The switch paid immediate dividends for the Nets, who broke a three-game losing streak, as Keith Bogans finished with 13 points and hit 3-of-4 3-pointers, and Wallace had 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

“Well, we can get out and run a little bit more and pose matchup problems for people with [Wallace] at the four,” said Deron Williams. “And he’s such a great passer … to have him at the four spot in a lot of our sets makes us more versatile.”

* Another change in the rotation was rookie Tornike Shengelia receiving a brief stint on the floor in the first half. Shengelia, who had a triple-double in a game in the D-League with the Springfield (Mass.) Armor on Friday night, played at the end of the first and beginning of the second quarters. He logged 3:20 and made a couple of plays, getting an assist and breaking up a Sixers 3-on-1 break.

“[Johnson] told me to be ready if he called my name,” Shengelia said.

It was only Shengelia’s sixth appearance of the season. The second-round pick has often been one of the team’s two inactive players during the early portion of the season.