PHOENIX – The Nets rely on Joe Johnson late in games. Sunday night, not him having available in the game’s final moments nearly cost them.
With Johnson sidelined with a right quad contusion, the Nets survived a second-half comeback by the Suns to escape from U.S. Airways Center with a 102-100 win.
It was one that nearly didn’t happen, despite the Nets gaining control of the game in the second quarter and taking a 16-point lead in the opening moments of the third after opening the second half with back-to-back baskets.
But Suns guard Wesley Johnson exploded for 17 points in the third, going 5-for-6 from behind the arc, to spur the Suns (23-48) to a 33-16 run to end the quarter and send Phoenix into the fourth with a 76-75 lead.
The Nets, however, got a combined 19 points from C.J. Watson (12) and Deron Williams (seven) in the fourth, and managed to hang on in the game’s final moments. After Williams fouled Suns point guard Goran Dragic (who finished with 31 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists), with three seconds remaining and the Nets leading by three, Dragic made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second.
Suns center Hamed Haddadi then grabbed the rebound, but his putback was off. Reggie Evans grabbed the rebound and the Nets improved to 3-1 through the first half of their eight-game, 17-day Circus Trip.
But moving forward, the bigger concern was about the health of their starting shooting guard.
“It tightened up, and it’s swollen, too,” Johnson said of his quad, which he initially injured in Saturday’s loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles when he collided with Clippers forward Blake Griffin in the first half. “There’s no need for me to get out there and try to play through this. I know my teammates can go out and handle business, so I’m just gonna try to get this thing right.”
Getting Johnson right is of paramount importance to the Nets (41-29), who have now won eight of their last 11 games.
The quad contusion is the second injury Johnson has had to deal with since the All-Star break, He spent a few weeks dealing off-and-on with a sore left heel that caused him to miss four games.
Johnson’s numbers have all dipped since the break, with his points, field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage all significantly down from where they were previously.
“It’s very similar to what we were talking about with Deron,” Nets interim coach Carlesimo said, referring to how Williams was feeling before the All-Star break. “You saw the difference when Deron came back and felt good and was close to 100 percent … that’s the wrong word, but felt the best he did all year. It made a big difference.
“Every time I ask Joe how he feels, he says it’s OK. He wants to play, which is good, and he doesn’t want to use it as an excuse, but if you look at the numbers and you look at what Joe’s done since the injury, it’s not the same Joe.
“We need to get Joe Johnson back healthy. I think if he’s healthy, then I think he’ll play the way Joe Johnson plays.”
Johnson agreed, saying that it’s been irritating for him to pick up these injuries over the past few weeks after being virtually injury-free for the first few months of the season.
“It’s frustrating for me because all of these little knick-knacks are starting to happen with me down the stretch of the season,” he said. “This is the most important part of the season, at this point right now.
“That’s probably the most frustrating thing. It’s not about where we’re playing, who we’re playing. I always want to be out there with the guys. I always hate sitting out and watching. That’s the hardest part.”
He also said that he wasn’t sure about his availability for the next stop on the Circus Trip, Wednesday’s game in Portland against the Trail Blazers, but made it sound like he wanted to be fully recovered before returning to the lineup.
“My health is more important right now at this point … obviously we want to do something major in the postseason,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to go into the postseason with these things bothering me.”
tbontemps@nypost.com