NBA

Nets guard Brooks ‘not worried’ about time off from Achilles

Rookie guard MarShon Brooks, who has missed three games with a sore left Achilles tendon and is a game time decision for the Nets against the Raptors tonight, says he doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about.

“I don’t worry about it. It’s only been four days, five days. It just seems like a long time because I missed a few games,” Brooks said of the ruckus over his injury. “It seems like everybody is a little more worried than me. I feel fine. I’m running now, making progress. It’s only been five days.”

Just seems like forever. So Brooks, who received an injection and underwent an ultrasound test Saturday, is hoping for a positive answer about playing tonight.

“I feel better, still a game time decision,” Brooks said. “I can do everything, just a little painful…I’m waiting too. I want to be out there. It’s killing me.”

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So while Brooks awaits word, Mehmet Okur is out with recurring back spasms.

“When I’m sitting doing nothing, (the pain is) not so much but when I try to move and do whatever moves, it’s sore,” said Okur.

Trying not to move is not exactly a good thing for basketball players.

“No timetable right now,” Okur said of a possible return. “But probably going to talk to doctors today before the game.”

Okur underwent an MRI on Saturday that found inflammation, not structural damage. Still, he waits.

“I learned my lesson in the past. Every time I rushed and tried to come back early it didn’t work out for me. I just want to make sure I’m healthy enough to play, so I just want to be patient and smart,” Okur said.

“Mehmet had an MRI. It’s negative. But he is going to go into the city and see a back specialist (Monday) and we’ll see what the next course of action is. Hopefully, we get him back at some point. But we’re looking at it as a day-to-day situation, but knowing that it’s probably going to be a game or two where he is going to be out,” coach Avery Johnson said. “MarShon we’ll put him out on the court and we’ll see where he is.”

Johnson revealed Brooks had a shot on Saturday: “He had an injection. We’ll leave it at that.”

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Johnson was very enthused about the recent play of Jordan Farmar.

“What’s been key to our most recent ‘improvement’ — I won’t call it success — is Jordan Farmar,” Johnson said. “He’s playing good basketball, both ends of the floor, he’s laying better defense than he ever has as a Net, good offense, quarterbacking the team, with or without Deron (Williams). There’s another guy. We’ve already talked about Shelden (Williams) and (Kris) Humphries. But sometimes what goes lost is what Jordan is doing for us off the bench.”

Farmar’s numbers bear it out. In his last 10 games – starting with the game at Denver – Farmar has shot 46-of-95 (.484), including 20-of-39 (.513) on 3-pointers/. He also has averaged 13.1 points and 3.9 assists.

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Nets are 5-4 in their last nine games. In the five wins in that stretch, Deron Williams has averaged 27.8 points and 11.0 assists. In the four losses, his numbers are 15.0 points, 6.8 assists.

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Brook Lopez does look at things differently. Tonight, he’ll have an X-ray to gauge his recovery.

“Hopefully, it will be negative. That’s proper terminology. Negative is good, right? What is the root of that?” Lopez wondered.

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Jordan Williams, who averaged 1.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in six minutes over six games with the Nets before being sent to Springfield of the D-League, was recalled and will be available tonight. He called Springfield a “great experience. I was with great teammates, great coaches.” He got the news before Saturday’s game.