In a perfect world, Joe Johnson would have returned from a five-game injury absence last night, scored a bazillion points and led the Nets to a rout.
But rarely are matters perfect in the Nets’ world, especially games in which they get out to a big, early lead and are forced to do things like play the third quarter or finish.
So facing the pitifully shorthanded Bulls, the Nets — and specifically Brook Lopez, who in the final minute turned over the ball, got blocked and missed an open shot to tie at the buzzer — came apart and lost, 92-90, at Barclays Center. One of the few positive elements that emerged from the disheartening mess was the team in part achieving one of the goals interim coach P.J. Carlesimo set beforehand.
Work Johnson back in, get him time.
“We don’t want to lose [the] eight games … we have left but the No. 1 priority would be for Joe to be healthy and play minutes and us get used to him being on the floor again,” Carlesimo said.
Well, they lost one. But the Nets had Johnson on the floor and were within 74 seconds of him being the hero. Down one, the Nets vaulted to an 88-86 lead with 1:14 left when Johnson nailed a 3-point shot, his third of the fourth quarter.
“I felt pretty good. My wind isn’t where I would like for it to be but I felt pretty good out there,” said Johnson, who shot 4-for-11 and scored 12 points (11 in the second half) in his first game since March 23 after sitting with a sore left heel and sore right quad.
“In the first half, I was just trying to feel my way through. I just wanted to get up and down the floor a little bit, see how it felt,” Johnson said. “In the second half, I wanted to be a little bit more aggressive and go off the dribble and I was able to do it a little.”
Carlesimo concurred.
“I thought Joe was significantly better in the second half than first,” he said.
Ditto Deron Williams, who said: “You miss that much time and your timing is off, but it was great to see him back on the court.”
But down the stretch, when the game teetered every way, the Nets went to Lopez, not Johnson, one of the league’s best clutch shooters all season. Johnson waved off any notion that he felt the Nets dialed the wrong number at the end.
“P.J.’s our coach,” Johnson said. “I ride him 100 percent and he went with what he felt was best for this team. So it’s [what] P.J. drew up, the play down the stretch, and it don’t bother me one bit. Deron and Brook were rolling.”
Just not on the final shot.