As the Nets continue to try and land Dwight Howard, they saw first-hand what size can do in last night’s 108-105 loss to the Timberwolves.
Timberwolves backup center Nikola Pekovic destroyed the Nets in the paint, finishing the game with 27 points and 11 rebounds on 11-for-14 shooting from the field. Most of the 6-foot-11 Pekovic’s damage came off the offensive glass, as he finished the game with seven offensive rebounds that turned into easy putbacks over the Nets’ smaller frontline of Shelden Williams and Kris Humphries.
“He had been playing pretty good, and you’ve got to remember, most of our guys on our front line are pretty much 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-9, and we just don’t have a lot of shot blocking right now,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “When he catches you deep like that, it’s pretty hard to get around him or block his shot.
“And it also started with Rubio’s pick-and-rolls, and he and Ridnour finding him underneath the basket, and when he’s rolling down with that big body, it’s pretty tough for anybody to handle.”
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The Nets were able to make a surge late in the third quarter and at the beginning of the fourth because of some major contributions from their bench. Rookie forward Jordan Williams, in particular, came up with several big plays during that stretch.
“They were rolling pretty good, and Jordan was anchoring that defensively, defending the paint, and did a nice job of finishing around the basket,” Johnson said. “For a guy that we had in D-League that we didn’t know if we were healthy what type of playing time he would get … he’s in much better shape. He’s got good hands, and he did a nice job for us.”
Williams, who had eight points and five rebounds, struggled initially, but kept getting better as the game went on.
“That’s how I’ve felt my whole career,” Williams said. “It’s weird. Even in college, I would kind of play the first 15, maybe 20 minutes, I was in the game, but I always started to slowly get into the game, and then my stats would build up. It’s just something I’ve been doing my whole career. I have to learn to start quicker, and get going right from the beginning.”
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Speaking to reporters after the game, Brook Lopez said that he did a variety of exercises, including box jumps, jumping rope, running and shooting. Yesterday was six weeks to the day of Lopez’s surgery to repair a stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. The Nets initially said the recovery time would be 6-to-8 weeks.
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In other injury news, Johnson said before the game that Mehmet Okur will be out until, at the earliest, the middle of next week, as he continues to recover from back spasms. Okur has missed the last five games.
In addition, DeShawn Stevenson (sore right knee) and MarShon Brooks (broken pinkie toe) sat again last night. Speaking to reporters before the game, Brooks, who was wearing a walking boot, didn’t have a timeframe on when he would be back in the lineup.
“When you break your pinkie, it’s a little different,” Brooks said. “Only you know … it all depends on how you heal.”
tbontemps@nypost.com