NBA

Time for Nets to create magic in Brooklyn

CHICAGO — Gerald Wallace admits he has no idea what to expect tomorrow night when the Nets play host to the Bulls in a winner-take-all Game 7 at Barclays Center.

“I’ve never played in a Game 7,” Wallace said last night. “I don’t have a clue. I don’t know what to expect.”

He will find out now that the Nets have fought back from a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series to play a seventh game on their home floor. As exhilarating as their 95-92 triumph over the Bulls was last night, the Nets understand there’s really no time to start celebrating until they finish the job tomorrow night.

“Now it comes down to one game,” Joe Johnson said. “I feel like we’ve got a pretty good chance because it’s going to be on our home floor in Brooklyn. We’ll be ready.’’

Brooklyn will be ready. Now it’s about making memories, the kind of memories that are handed down from generation to generation. The Bulls like to bombard you with their memories. During seemingly every timeout there are video replays of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and championship trophies. Good for them. It’s time for Brooklyn to start making its own memories, the kind of special moments that winning a Game 7 can provide.

“It’s beyond my imagination how it’s going to be,” Johnson said about Barclays Center playing host to its first Game 7. “It’ll definitely be a frenzy in there. That sixth man will definitely come into play. I know Brooklyn will be ready.”

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The Nets were ready last night, ready for the 21,000 at the United Center, where they had gone winless in four previous visits this season. But if ever there were a game that appeared to be gift-wrapped for the Nets to win, Game 6 was it. It was as if the basketball gods wanted a Game 7 in Brooklyn, and decided the best way to do that would be to decimate the Bulls’ lineup.

When the Nets got to the United Center, they learned the Bulls would be playing not only without Derrick Rose, who still isn’t ready to test his surgically repaired knee, but also Kirk Hinrich, who missed his second straight game with an injured calf, and Luol Deng, who was out with the flu.

“If you want to use it as an excuse, you can,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game. “I hope we don’t.”

The Nets vowed to not take anything for granted. Lose and their season was over.

“The game is not going to be any easier,” Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo warned. “It’s still going to be a war.”

It was. The outcome wasn’t sealed until Johnson grabbed the loose ball after a jump between Joakim Noah and Deron Williams with three seconds to play. The Nets used their depth to wear down the Bulls as Williams, Johnson and Brook Lopez scored 17 each and Andray Blatche added 10 off the bench, none bigger than the two free throws he made with 19 seconds left to provide the margin of victory.

It was one of those total team efforts that will need to be repeated if the Nets are to win and advance.

“Most people counted us out, but we kept fighting,” Blatche said. “But we showed a lot of heart. Now that it’s tied up, we have to stay hungry.”

Carlesimo talked about his team finally having a chance to “take a deep breath,” but they can’t relax. The Bulls — healthy, unhealthy, sick or medicated — figure to bring their best effort. Brooklyn will need to bring theirs, the Nets and a building ready to make memories.