NBA

Three things to watch in Nets-Magic

ORLANDO – After a pair of dismal performances in a row, the Nets will hope to get back on track Friday night in Orlando against the Magic.

Here are three things to watch for as the Nets try to snap their two-game losing streak and get back to .500:

1. Joe Johnson vs. Aaron Afflalo – One of the things that has been clear during the opening three games of the season is that Joe Johnson is still feeling his way into the Nets offense. When he’s out there anchoring the second unit, Johnson looks comfortable, and like the same player he was in Atlanta. But with the starters, Johnson seems to be trying to find the right places to be on the court – something he admitted after Thursday’s practice.

The Nets will be hoping to get a lot of things going Friday night, but expect Johnson to be one of them. He’ll have a tough matchup, though, as he’ll be matched up against Aaron Afflalo, one of the better perimeter defenders in the league. We’ll see how Johnson handles it.

2. Pounding the ball inside – The Nets wanted to pound the ball into Brook Lopez Wednesday in Miami, but Chris Bosh did a terrific job of limiting Lopez’s touches early, and he never could get going after that.

But that shouldn’t repeat itself against the Magic, who have a second-year center in Nikola Vucevic starting that Lopez has an advantage of at least 20 pounds over. Between Lopez and Andray Blatche, not to mention Kris Humphries attacking the boards like he did early on against the Heat, will do a lot to cure the Nets ills.

3. A strong defensive effort – The Magic have little offensive firepower. To sum up how much they have, Glen Davis has the second-highest usage rate (meaning he uses more possessions than any other player) in the league. Yes, the same Glen Davis who has been a role player for his entire career with the Magic and, before that, the Celtics.

So, with that said, the Nets need to come out with a strong showing defensive and, frankly, overall. The Nets are currently ranked 24th in offensive rating, dead last in defensive rating and dead last in net plus-minus ranking.

Obviously that’s in an absurdly small sample size, but the Nets need to start getting stops. Going up against a team like the Magic, who have very few real offensive threats, should be a good place to start.

tbontemps@nypost.com