While most of the Nets’ walking wounded are looking forward to a three-day break between games, MarShon Brooks has had his fill of rest. The rookie has been rusty since Friday’s return to the court, turnover-prone and tentative, and he planned to get in the gym yesterday for several hundred shots, off-day or no.
“I’ve been rested,” Brooks said. “I’ve been resting a little too much. For me I’ve just got to get back in the gym, break a sweat, have the opportunity to shoot 200 or 300 shots back-to-back-to-back by myself and that’s all I’ll need. I think after the three-day break, I’ll be all right.’’
The Nets have lost six straight games, with Brooks making his return to the court from a broken pinky toe with Friday’s 17-minute cameo against the Pistons and Saturday’s return to the starting lineup against the Spurs. He shot 2-of-10 against San Antonio with a half-dozen turnovers, but Nets coach Avery Johnson chalked the performance up to rust.
“I’ve talked to him about it,” Johnson said. “He passed up his shot a couple of times. But he’s going to be fine.I just think these two games were sort of like practices because of the way the games are coming so fast.” You don’t really have time, like in a normal season, to go through a rigorous practice and get a guy who’s been rehabbing some time to get ready
“You’ve got to do some stuff behind the scenes, like putting him in for a few minutes in the game. Hopefully next week, and as time goes on going into the break, he’ll play the way he was playing before he got injured.’’
Brooks averaged nearly 15.4 points on efficient .467 shooting before hurting his left Achilles tendon and missing three straight games. His return lasted just one game — Jan. 29 in Toronto — and then he missed the next six with a broken toe.
In his last three appearances, he has averaged just 6.7 points and shot a scant .259.
“I’ll shoot in the gym, that might help me,” Brooks said. “Getting shots up for three days, hopefully. It’s just confidence, just overthinking it. Believing in myself is not a problem. I’ve just got to see it go through the hole a couple times. I’ll be all right.’’
The Nets had yesterday off altogether, and today will be a very light session to lift weights and rehab. Johnson is planning an intense, training camp-style practice tomorrow before the Nets embark on a brutal stretch of five games in six days and six contests in eight, starting Tuesday against the Grizzlies at Prudential Center.
“We need a day off for a variety of reasons,” Johnson said. “We need to lift some weights and we need rest for some of our high-minute guys. We need a good practice, which we’ll eventually get.”
brian.lewis@nypost.com