The Nets made it hard on themselves, but they eventually found a way to put away the hapless Bobcats last night.
Their sloppy performance in a 105-96 victory in front of 17,444 at Barclays Center notwithstanding, it was expected a playoff team like the Nets would beat the Bobcats, the league’s worst team, at home.
Of greater concern to interim coach P.J. Carlesimo were the losses the Nets suffered in their two previous games in Brooklyn against the Hawks and Bulls.
Both games — against the Nets’ two most likely first-round playoff opponents — were squandered opportunities to secure home-court advantage in the first round and send a message to potential postseason opponents.
“It’s a major concern,” Carlesimo said. “We’re just not playing well enough right now to be as successful as we want to be in the playoffs. We’ve got to play better.
“You’re not going to win every game, you’re not going to play perfectly, but that was two games that were really big games for us — and there was no question about it. It’s not like they snuck up on us. … We knew they were big games. Atlanta was a chance to win that series, and Chicago was a chance to take it to the second level of tie-breaker and we didn’t do either one.”
The Nets (44-32) nearly didn’t do it against the Bobcats (18-59) either. They were sluggish and sloppy throughout the game, letting balls slip through their fingers at both ends, not going after rebounds and settling too often for 3-pointers (5-for-21).
Luckily for them, they received another virtuoso performance from Deron Williams, who finished with 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting to go along with six assists. Williams hit a key bucket with just over a minute remaining that put the Nets up 97-94 after a pair of 3-pointers from Mount Vernon product and former UConn star Ben Gordon — who led Charlotte with 27 points — cut the lead to 95-94.
Williams drove to the hoop and was fouled on the ensuing possession, sinking a pair of free throws with 48.7 seconds left. That gave the Nets a five-point cushion and allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief as they avoided an embarrassing loss.
“I am glad we got the win,” Williams said. “We definitely have to look at the film and see some things we did wrong.”
Though the Nets spent too much time on the perimeter, they did enough damage inside to come away with the victory. Reggie Evans finished with 14 points, 20 rebounds and one tooth knocked out (in the third quarter), Brook Lopez had 19 points, five rebounds and four blocks and Andray Blatche came off the bench to finish with 16 points and seven boards.
The Nets used their massive size advantage to outscore the Bobcats 52-32 in the paint, despite giving up a 46-40 edge on the glass.
That allowed the Nets to claim a victory that allowed them to maintain their one-game lead in the loss column over the Bulls (42-33) — their most likely first-round opponent — for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
“We take an important win, and we found a way to close the game,” Carlesimo said. “We know we need to continue to play better. … We need to get guys healthy and rested and continue to work.
“We don’t have a shortage of things to work on.”
* Kris Humphries was a late scratch with sinus congestion. … Chrisandthecapper, the horse named after the Nets’ radio team of Chris Carrino and Tim Capstraw, led early in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct yesterday before fading to sixth place.