After making his return to the court Friday night from a fractured right pinkie toe, Nets rookie guard MarShon Brooks made his return to the starting lineup in last night’s 103-89 loss to the Spurs.
Following a 17-minute cameo against the Pistons, Brooks logged 24 minutes last night, finishing with seven points on 2-of-10 shooting and six turnovers.
“Honestly, I think I was struggling and overthinking again, not believing in my shot, passing up some good shots and getting turnovers,’’ Brooks said. “A good team like San Antonio, if you turn the ball over, they’ll make some plays and that will be the difference in the game.’’
Coach Avery Johnson chalked it up to simple rust, and said Brooks will benefit from having the two games under his belt. He also said the Nets will benefit from three days off — they don’t play again until Wednesday.
* The Nets used their 15th different starting lineup of the season with Johan Petro getting the nod at center over Shelden Williams, who took a tumble Friday and aggravated a right wrist injury. Williams was limited to a scoreless 16 minutes, missing his only shot.
* Brook Lopez has been doing drills and going against “token defense” from Petro and Jordan Williams during his rehab process from a broken right foot. Petro’s assessment?
“Great, strong, he looked good,” Petro said. “They didn’t want me to do too much on him right now because we still don’t know how good he is. But his body looks really good.”
Lopez, who has yet to play this season because of a broken right foot, said he hopes to practice this week.
* DeShawn Stevenson (sore knee) also hopes to return to practice this week. Mehmet Okur (back) is improving. He had a second shot, an epidural, for his ailing back.
“He’s going to be back,” general manager Billy King said of Okur. “I’m not worried.”
* Asked if he was shocked at “Linsanity” surrounding Knicks point guard sensation Jeremy Lin, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich balked.
“No, in today’s world, are you serious?” he said. “There’s gazillions of your [media] type everywhere, waiting for a story.’’