CHICAGO — When Nets general manager Billy King went out and put together this season’s Nets team — from trading for aging stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to signing Andrei Kirilenko and Shaun Livingston and re-signing Andray Blatche — it was done with the goal of surrounding Deron Williams with talent and allowing him to orchestrate it.
But after another disappointing performance from him in Thursday night’s 92-76 loss to the Bulls, in which Williams finished with 13 points on 4-for-14 shooting to go with five assists and six turnovers, the biggest thing the Nets could gain out of the All-Star break is for Williams to rediscover his game.
“I think [the break is] definitely needed,” Williams said after the game. “Take a quick step away for a little bit, and get my mind right, more than anything.”
Williams has looked neither sound in mind nor body this season for the Nets (24-27), enduring a second straight campaign full of ankle issues that have affected his confidence in himself and his game and left him far from the $100 million point guard they built their team around.
After he spent two weeks last month sitting out after undergoing a round of cortisone shots and platelet-rich-plasma treatment in both ankles — treatments that led to his post All-Star break renaissance last season — it was expected Williams would have the potential to come close to replicating his second-half numbers from last season (22.9 points and 8.0 assists per game on 48.1 percent shooting overall and 42 percent from 3-point range).
Instead, Williams’ numbers have actually gone down since coming back — he’s averaging 12.7 points and 6.2 assists while shooting 41.1 percent overall and 33.3 percent from 3-point range. He’s also picked up a bone bruise on his right knee, which he’s played through wearing a sleeve over it.
After Paul Pierce — who led the Nets with 15 points — had scored eight straight points to pull the Nets within three in the third quarter, a turnover by Williams, when the Nets had could have tied the game for the first time since the opening minutes of the game, led to an 11-2 Bulls run that opened the game back up again.
“We definitely had some bad turnovers, I definitely had some bad ones,” he said. “They took us out of our game a little bit, and they got under our skin. … We’ve just got to maintain composure and keep playing. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
The Nets pulled to within three of Chicago again midway through the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Kirilenko — his first of the season — that made it 75-72, but the Bulls again responded with a run, this time a 9-0 stretch, that put the game out of reach.
Still, Williams said the Nets go into the All-Star break as a group with some confidence, given their 14-6 record since the start of 2014.
“We didn’t finish tonight the way we wanted to tonight, but we’ve won a handful of games, and we’re playing a lot better in general.
“This break comes at the right time, as guys can get rested up and healed up, especially going into this long road trip we’ve got coming up.”
While all of the Nets could undoubtedly use the break to relax and refresh themselves for the stretch run, there’s little doubt Williams needs it.
“That’s where it’s most needed,” Williams said. “Clear our heads, and get right. For me especially, just try to get my confidence back and step away for a minute.”