NBA

Nets confident they can finally knock off Wizards

WASHINGTON — Heading into Saturday’s showdown with the Wizards, the Nets find themselves on the opposite end of the same scenario they were in going into Wednesday’s game against the Heat.

After beating the Heat in both of their prior meetings this season, the Nets knew they would get Miami’s best shot. And, after losing both of their meetings with Washington this season, the Nets are planning on giving the Wizards their best effort Saturday.

“I think it means even more,” Livingston said. “I don’t want to stress it out, but with how we’ve been playing this is an easy letdown game, because we’re rolling and feeling good about ourselves. It’s easy to come out and relax. … All these games count, and that’s how we have to look at it.”

Livingston did say, however, the Nets aren’t the same team now compared to the one that lost to Washington in early November and again in mid-December. They have since shifted to a small-ball lineup that has produced the Eastern Conference’s best record since the start of 2014.

“They are 2-0 against us, but I think we’re a different team from the last time we played them,” he said. “Just with the way we’ve tinkered our lineups and just kind of the basketball we’ve been playing … I think it’s going to be a hard-fought game.”

The Nets will once again be without Kevin Garnett Saturday,. He’ll sit out his eighth straight game because of his ongoing bout with back spasms that began two weeks ago.

“He feels a lot better,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said of Garnett, who remained back in New York this week rather than joining the team in Miami. “He’s feeling a lot better, and he’s going to do a bit more.

“He’ll be out, and when we get back, we’ll see how he feels.”

The Nets have been cautious with Garnett all season, keeping him on a strict minutes limit to keep him as fresh as possible for the stretch run and playoffs.

Kidd the back spasms won’t impact how he handles Garnett once the future Hall-of-Famer is ready to play again.

“When he’s ready to go, we’re going to play him, and play him as we have been,” Kidd said. “We’ll just take it day-by-day. Our job as coaches is to make sure we’re healthy going into the playoffs.”

The Nets could get Andrei Kirilenko back after he practiced with the team Friday. He sat out the previous two games with a sprained right ankle.

As on Wednesday, Kirilenko was listed as a game-time decision for Saturday.

“When I was stretching and running and warming up [Wednesday], it didn’t support me how I needed it to support me,” Kirilenko said when asked what kept him from going Wednesday, adding he again felt pretty good Friday. “Every lateral move felt like it didn’t support me that much.”