NBA

Deron eager to turn Nets’ injury-riddled season around

This season has been such a struggle for Deron Williams, that when the three-time All-Star actually hits clutch shots in the fourth quarter, has a good game, takes over down the stretch — you know, all the things Brooklyn expected when it paid him a maximum contract — it actually becomes big news.

Williams understands it, his injury-riddled season has made it that way. But the Nets’ star point guard and franchise player is hoping to change all that starting Thursday against San Antonio, hoping Monday’s performance against Philadelphia becomes more the norm than just an aberration.

“It was big,’’ Williams said of his performance against the 76ers. “I wish we weren’t talking about little things like that all the time. It seems like I have a good game and it’s a big deal. It shouldn’t be that way. It has been, because of injuries and how it’s gone. But hopefully it’ll change.’’

The Nets can only hope so. Williams’ ankles have been the most discussed body parts in Brooklyn, robbing him of not only playing time early in the season but explosion once he finally returned.

But on Monday, right after acknowledging he was struggling with a crisis of confidence, Williams showed some auspicious signs. He hit a huge fadeaway jumper late in the fourth quarter, finished with 21 points and six assists, and led the Nets to a 108-102 win.

Games like that have been few and far enough between to qualify as news.

They’re also a sign the cortisone shots and platelet-rich plasma injections Williams got are finally kicking in, just as they did last season. He had struggled during the team’s recent three-game losing skid, averaging a dozen points with six assists, and 2.7 turnovers on 38.7 percent shooting. And his confidence took a beating along the way.

“[My confidence] is not my highest,’’ Williams said at the time. “It’s been tough, just being in and out of the lineups, missing two weeks here and there. I feel like I get my legs back, get my legs in shape, and then I go out again. Then I’ve got to just do it all over again. It’s been a struggle.”

And while his struggles certainly aren’t over, Williams is buoyed by the knowledge the treatments are taking hold and can help turn around his season, the same way they did last winter.

“It’s definitely getting better,’’ said Williams. “Last year, it didn’t happen overnight, it was a couple weeks for it to calm down and the strength to come back, so it’s getting there, slowly but surely.’’

Williams isn’t the only Net getting healthy. Andray Blatche, Joe Johnson and Andrei Kirilenko all practiced on Wednesday, and are expected to play against the Spurs.

The team has already lost as total of 99 games to injuries among nine players, and coach Jason Kidd has had to use 18 different starting lineups. Johnson sat out Monday with right knee tendinitis, but is planning on playing against the Spurs if nothing goes awry at Thursday’s shootaround.

“It was good getting back out here with the guys and getting up and down the floor. Once I get warmed up, it’s all right. We’ll see how it feels [Thursday], but the plan is to play,’’ said Johnson, who suffered from tendinitis early last month and hurt himself by compensating for it. “I’ll be all right. It’s nothing major. It’s a small thing. We’ll try to keep everything calmed down so it doesn’t linger.’’

Kirilenko missed three straight games with a sore right calf, while Blatche has been out for the last two with a bruised hip.

“I feel pretty good,’’ said Kirilenko, who doesn’t expect to have any minutes restrictions when he returns. “Nothing’s bothering me, so I’m ready to go.’’

That bodes well for Brooklyn, which is 12-5 when Kirilenko plays and just 9-20 when he doesn’t.