NBA

Nets rewind: The real on-court value of Jason Collins

Here are three thoughts on the Nets’ 104-89 win over the Kings in Brooklyn Sunday:

1. If you look at the stat line for DeMarcus Cousins from Sunday’s game — 28 points and 20 rebounds in 32 minutes — it’s hard to imagine how anyone did much to slow down the budding Kings star inside. But Jason Collins did a nice job of getting into Cousins’ head when he was guarding him.

At one point, while the Nets were shooting a pair of free throws, Cousins spent the entire break lobbying the officials to call fouls on Collins. What was Collins’ response? He just smiled the entire time while Cousins was getting into it with the referees.

Many fans have asked whether Collins will stick around for the rest of the season or whether the Nets will sign someone else to a 10-day contract when Collins’ second 10-day ends at the end of this week. Well, Collins isn’t going anywhere, and his worth to the Nets was shown Sunday.

If Collins wasn’t on the roster, it’s hard to say how many points and rebounds Cousins would have wound up with. He was using his massive frame to throw Andray Blatche and Mason Plumlee around down low. But Collins was able to bang on him and get in his head, helping to temporarily slow Cousins’ momentum.

Besides the off-the-court presence Collins provides — which shouldn’t be understated — it’s Collins’ physical defense in the post that gives him value to the Nets.

2. While Marcus Thornton’s latest scoring burst got most of the attention Sunday, it was good for the Nets to get both Mirza Teletovic and Alan Anderson to knock down some shots.

The Nets need both of them to start hitting shots — especially now that the statuses of Paul Pierce and Andrei Kirilenko are up in the air after they went down with injuries Sunday.

Anderson went 3-for-6 from 3-point range, while Teletovic made his first four shots before finishing 4-for-7. If they can both recover their shooting strokes, the Nets would suddenly get a lot deeper — and be able to pull Thornton from games when he starts missing.

3. Joe Johnson has had four straight good games in a row as it appears he’s finally healthy again. Johnson scored 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting, averaging just under 20 points and shooting 54.4 percent from the field over his last four games.

With Deron Williams also playing well, the Nets need Johnson to continue that hot streak coming into their toughest remaining stretch, which begins Monday night at home against Toronto before road games against the Heat and Wizards and a home date with the Suns next week.