It might have been a meaningless preseason game in October, but that didn’t stop Deron Williams and A.J. Price from getting into late in last night’s 98-88 Nets win over the Wizards at Barclays Center.
After Andray Blatche stole the ball and threw it ahead to Williams, he was fouled by Price as he went up to score with just under a minute to go. The two started jawing at one another immediately after hitting the ground, and were hit with double technical fouls on the play.
Price, who is from Amityville, LI., and gave out 20 tickets for last night’s game, said the whole thing was a miscommunication on both sides.
“In the heat of the moment,” he said, “guys say things all the time and one thing led to another, but all in all, it’s part of the game.”
Williams, on the other hand, saw things a bit differently.
“He started talking for no reason,” Williams said. “I didn’t do anything. He said, ‘I’m home.’ I don’t know what that means.
“I guess he had some boys in the crowd that he wanted to impress or something like that while he can with the little minutes he’s going to get this year.
“[I told him] it’s my home now.”
MarShon Brooks made his first step toward returning to action when he took part in the Nets’ shoot-around yesterday morning.
Brooks had his right foot in a walking boot from Thursday to Sunday as he dealt with tendinitis. Brooks said yesterday his shoes were equipped with orthotics to try to give his feet more support.
But after going through part of the shoot-around with his teammates, he said he still has some work to do before playing in his first preseason game.
“I feel better health-wise. … It was always something I could play through, but it was just there,” Brooks said. “I didn’t want it to be there anymore. Now I feel a lot better.
“The orthotics are going to help me with my support.”
The second-year shooting guard did not play last night, and won’t play tonight in Boston, either. The Nets are hoping to have Brooks for one of their two home games later this week, either Thursday against the Celtics or Friday against the Sixers.
“He’s going to walk around today and tomorrow and we’ll try to get some conditioning in with him in the middle of the week and we’ll see how he feels,” coach Avery Johnson said.
* Tyshawn Taylor, who finally practiced for the first time Thursday after being shut down with a strained right quad, participated fully in yesterday’s shoot-around. But like Brooks, he was not expected to play last night.
Johnson left open the possibility, however, that Taylor could play in tonight’s game in Boston.
* In a small piece of trivia, the Wizards became the first team to use the official Brooklyn Nets court at Barclays Center yesterday when they held a shoot-around. The Nets also held shoot-around on the main court, but went after Washington.
The Nets wore their road black uniforms as they will at home games throughout the preseason. The home white uniforms will not debut until the team’s regular-season opener against the Knicks on Nov. 1.