NEW ORLEANS — Deron Williams should have had platelet rich plasma treatment sooner.
All kidding aside, the Nets have seen a different version of Williams since he sat out the final two games before the All-Star break following a round of PRP treatment. That trend continued in Tuesday night’s 101-97 victory over the Hornets in front of 12,651 inside New Orleans Arena.
Williams finished with 33 points — including the final 11 for the Nets — to go along with eight assists, including 10-for-21 shooting from the field and 4-for-8 from 3-point range.
In the five games the Nets have played since the All-Star break, Williams is averaging 22.8 points and 8.4 assists while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 51.5 percent from 3-point range — all far above his season averages.
Though Williams was wearing a protective sleeve on his bruised left calf to deal with his latest injury, one he suffered when he was kneed late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to Memphis in Brooklyn, he said he was encouraged by the progress his ailing ankles have made since getting PRP treatment before the break and cortisone shots in both ankles last week.
“I feel like the shots have helped a lot,” Williams said. “My ankle is starting to feel better … that’s been the biggest thing is trying to get healthy.”
After a hot first quarter that saw Williams score 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field, the star point guard then delivered down the stretch for the Nets (34-24), who were without Joe Johnson for the third straight game as he continued to sit with a sore left heel.
Williams scored his team’s final 11 points inside the final 90 seconds to help the Nets maintain their lead. He kicked off that run with a deep 3-pointer from the left wing with 1:24 remaining that put the Nets back up by nine, 93-84, a shot Williams held his follow-through for several seconds after making, and a subsequent fadeaway jumper that again put the Nets up nine with a minute remaining.
Then, after the Hornets came back yet again, thanks to hot shooting from Ryan Anderson, Williams calmly drained four straight free throws to keep it a two-possession game.
The Nets needed all of that production from Williams, as they jumped out to a big lead against the Hornets, leading by 16 at halftime and by as many as 22 at one point. But New Orleans slowly chipped away after halftime, cutting the lead to as little as four in the fourth quarter.
But the Nets managed to make just enough plays down the stretch to hold off New Orleans, including a couple of baskets from Brook Lopez, who had been in the middle of controversy recently after Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo had opted to bench him for virtually the entire fourth quarter in three of the four games the Nets had played since Lopez returned from his first All-Star Game appearance last week.
Carlesimo said following Monday’s practice he wouldn’t be continuing that practice against the Hornets, and made sure not to, inserting Lopez back into the game with a little more than five minutes remaining.
Lopez proceeded to immediately hit a pair of buckets and then knocked down a pair of free throws, as he finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four blocks while playing against his twin brother, Robin, who is the starting center for New Orleans.
tbontemps@nypost.com