BOSTON — Gerald Green would love a do-over on the start of his NBA career. When he was drafted as an 18-year-old out of high school by the Celtics in 2005, he was, basically, an immature twit.
“You always say you wish you could turn back the hands of time,” said Green, who has received another NBA chance with the Nets as a 10-day contract signee. “I definitely do wish I could, but the one thing about mistakes, if you know you’ve made [one], you can continue to correct it. That’s when you know you’ve improved and have grown up,”
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” added Green, who scored 11 points in the Nets 107-94 loss to the Celtics Friday night. “I know I’ve made a mistake and I realize that, instead of me trying to say I was doing things the right way and blame everybody else. I’m just so happy I found out early in my career I could still change things around,”
Going back to an earlier age, 12, Green would re-do some simple child’s play. He wore a ring on his finger and even at 12 had remarkable leaping skills. He tried to leap to a spot above a doorway, and it is why Green has four fingers on his shooting hand.
“I was little. I had a ring on and there was a nail on the wall, like at the top of a door, and the nail got caught on my ring. I was trying to jump and touch it when I was a little kid,” Green recalled. “And it got caught and I had to get it amputated. It happened so long ago. It’s part of me. It’s something I think about every day.”
Back to the grown up stuff for Green, who at 6-foot-8 provides the Nets with legitimate small forward size. Coach Avery Johnson has been impressed so far.
“The kid’s mature. He’s hungry. He wants to get it right.”
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Celtics coach Doc Rivers was Green’s first NBA coach. Suffice to say it didn’t work out. But Rivers is really pulling for the 26-year-old.
“I think there still is a very good chance for Gerald Green. He was just so young when he was here,” Rivers said. “He’s skilled. People look at Gerald and they just saw this freak athlete that won the dunk contest. Gerald can make shots. He can really shoot the basketball. He just hadn’t been taught how to play basketball.
“I hope it works out for him,” he added. “It would be a terrific story. I would probably be one of the happier guys. He’s not a bad kid. He’s never been a bad kid. He just needed some direction.
“He’s just more mature, you can see it in his play. Avery was telling me how much he watches film now. He’s studying the game. Sometimes when you’re young you don’t think, ‘What the hell do I need to study Kobe Bryant for? I’m better than him.’ He never said that, but I’m just saying that’s how they think and Kobe is sitting there watching him on film and that’s the difference.”
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Johnson downplayed the Celtics’ now-barely .500 record.
“Any team that has Kevin Garnett show up, they’re a good team.”
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Jordan Farmar, who missed the previous four games with a strained groin, was green-lighted to play after shootaround. He played 14 minutes and scored seven points.
Farmer’s main message afterward was to shake off the loss.
“We just can’t let this game affect us and carry over to the next game,” he said. “[The groin is] all right, still a little tight, but I was able to do what I needed to do.”
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The Celtics were without Ray Allen (illness). … Boston’s Paul Pierce and Garnett combined to shoot 20-of-27.
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Brook Lopez had just three rebounds in 35 minutes. … In two games totaling 44 minutes, Green has 21 points. He played 25:30 last night and unleashed a jaw-dropping dunk off an alley-oop late in the third quarter. He seemingly banged his ankles on the rim on the way down.
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Rivers calls the trade season “silly season” and was perturbed by reports Boston is actively shopping Rajon Rondo.
“I don’t mind any rumors that are true,” he said. “I think I’m pretty up front about it. I do get upset when they’re not true, or in my opinion, sometimes news is created, and then people report on the news they created.”
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Deron Williams attempted his fewest shots of the season — nine. Johnson said he would like his All-Star point guard to shoot more, but understood how it could happen.
“In his defense, when he gets trapped or triple teamed, we’ve got to have guys make plays,” he said. “That’s been something that we’ve been seeing all year. So guys got to get to their spots, we were slow to get to our spots when he got trapped.”
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Kris Humphries battled through calf soreness and, though he played 25 minutes, was sub-par (six points and five rebounds).
“[He] just didn’t have the lift tonight,” Johnson said. “I know he’s going to be anxious to get some work in tomorrow so that he can come back with a stronger game on Sunday [in Charlotte].”
fred.kerber@nypost.com