NBA

Nets rookie Brooks sidelined with sore tendon

CHICAGO — MarShon Brooks looked more concerned than he sounded. This sore left Achilles tendon that knocked him out last night just before game time was the same injury he had in college. He overcame it then, he figures he’ll overcome it now.

No biggie.

“I was just trying to run and it just felt real tight in my Achilles and I couldn’t really get going,” said Brooks, who will undergo additional tests today. “My only guess would be because of fatigue. It’s happened once before, the same feeling. … But I had no clue how it was going to react, I just went out there, tried to push off of it and it wasn’t cooperating.

“No need to panic because it happened to me before in college and it went away within the next 24 hours so I thought by the time we got here it was going to be OK. But it’s a sometime thing. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s a real weird injury. We’re just going to get the proper tests and make sure everything’s all right.” Brooks tweeted that he expects to play tomorrow in Philadelphia.

Coach Avery Johnson said, “We’re not sure how severe it is . . . but we’re hoping he’s day-to-day.”

***Brook Lopez is going for a walk tomorrow. A power walk.

“Thrilling stuff, huh? Maybe they’ll make a movie,” the Nets rehabbing center joked before the game. “I did some single leg squats on this leg [right] yesterday. But I don’t know how far away [I am].”

Lopez is recovering from a broken right foot and puts his return at “sometime in February, it won’t be March.” And Lopez admits he feels a little concern seeing what teammate Damion James is going through. James needed a screw inserted into his foot after he broke it last season. Now, because of complications, James is undergoing surgery today.

“There’s definitely a chance of that happening,” Lopez said. “I know we have the best doctors but I feel I did a good job of doing what Timmy [athletic trainer Walsh] told me. I literally laid on the couch with my foot on three pillows for about two weeks. I tried to keep off it as much as possible to allow it time to heal.”

The Nets, who had compiled an eight-game stretch shooting .425 on 3-pointers with a franchise record 20 in a single game — they entered last night with an NBA high 153 made trifectas — are just 17-of-69 (.246) in their last three games. They were 7-of-19 last night.

***Reigning MVP Derrick Rose told reporters yesterday that while he feels decent, he likely will be bothered by a left big toe issue all season.

The toe “is never going to be right this year,” Rose said at the Bulls’ morning workout

*** Shawne Williams went to the aid of teammate Larry Owens after Rip Hamilton threw an elbow.

“It wasn’t anything personal, I was just standing up for my teammate. Certain people, they pick on certain people,” Williams said.

Williams, who has been bothered by shin splints resulting from an old foot fracture, said he is feeling great and believes it’s an “injury that isn’t going to go away until you fix it.” Williams claimed he “most likely” will be able to wait until the end of the season for surgery on the foot.

“I feel like I will be able to,” he said, noting the lack of training camp was a setback. Owens, picked up out of the D-League last week, played a surprising 29 minutes and received a positive review from Johnson.

“Ever since my first time coming into the league, Tim Duncan always told me, ‘Stay ready, you never know when. So just be ready.’ ” Owens said. “I’m on the bench no matter what I’m always ready whether I get two minutes or whatever, I’m always going to be ready.”

***Johnson on Shawne Williams standing up for Owens: “I like it. They’re a team that really don’t take much. We’re trying to build that reputation. We’re not there yet, but I like how Shawne, when he thought there was an unfortunate situation out on the court, he stood up for himself. Obviously, I don’t want anybody getting thrown out, but we can’t have anybody elbowing us, we’ve got to protect ourselves.”

Johnson on Brooks: “When I first saw him in the pre-draft camp I liked him. When they asked me what was my ideal player, he fit the mold.”