All throughout the series, Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo has countered claims of his team being gutless by talking up the resiliency of the Nets.

That claim and counterargument were on display in two contrasting halves during Game 7 against the Bulls.

On one side was an awful first half which saw the Nets fall behind by 17 at halftime. On the other side was a spirited come back in the third quarter which shaved 10 points off of the deficit.

However, the first half ultimately came back to burn them as their first season in Brooklyn ended with a disappointing 99-93 loss on Saturday night.

“I think they had more energy than us in the first half and that really determined the game,” Brook Lopez said. “It’s tough; they just outplayed us. There really wasn’t anything specific that we really did and I think that falls back on me. It’s my job to contest the shots at the rim and back us up when we get beat. I just didn’t do that tonight.”

“They played like they wanted to keep playing, like they didn’t want their season to end,” Gerald Wallace added. “We didn’t do anything in the first half.”

They won 49 games to earn the right to host Game 7, but wound up losing to a team saddled with illness and injury. Chicago won with Derrick Rose not playing a minute, Kirk Hinrich missing the last three games with a calf injury, Luol Deng missing the last two with an illness and Joakim Noah playing through plantar fasciitis.

“We didn’t want to go out like that this,” Lopez said. “We competed, we got better this season. We achieved a lot of our goals, but not all of them. It’s very frustrating.”

“That’s a heckuva a hole to dig against a team that’s competing the way they’re competing,” Carlesimo said. “We really believed we could be the ninth team to come out of that [3-1] hole. It wasn’t meant to be.”

Most of the team is expected back next season but the status of Carlesimo remains uncertain even if players praised him for leading the team to a 38-23 record after replacing Avery Johnson on Dec. 28.

“I think he did a great job of leading us,” Deron Williams said. “I’d love to see him back but as you know that’s not up to me.”

The Nets could have given upper management more of a reason to keep Carlesimo but they encountered an unstoppable force in Noah.

Noah torched the Nets’ frontline for 16 points and five rebounds in the first half and 24 points and 14 rebounds overall. Marco Belinelli was also a force, scoring 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter.

“It’s disappointing,” Williams said. “When we won Game 6, we felt like this was our series and they came out and played a great game.

“Noah is a warrior. He had a monster game and we really had no answer for him tonight.”

The best way the Nets could counter Noah’s dominance was by getting a standout performance from at least two of their big three.

It didn’t quite happen.

Lopez finished with 21 points but was 9-of-20, while Joe Johnson missed his first six shots and finished with six points on 2-of-14 shooting.

“I don’t make excuses,” Johnson said. “If I was out there on the floor, then I was able to go. So I don’t blame my foot for anything. It was just a terrible game.”

After they went 3-for-17 in the second half Thursday, the trio was a combined 7-for-21 in the opening half Saturday and 19-for-51 total in Game 7.

Williams finished with 25 points and seven assists but it was not enough.

The Nets scrapped their way back in the game by outscoring Chicago, 31-21, in the third quarter, highlighted by 11 points from Gerald Wallace. The rally brought the deficit to 82-75 entering the fourth but they couldn’t continue the momentum.

“We felt like it, being at home and the energy from the crowd if we could keep it going,” Wallace said. “We were down 17 at halftime and there’s only so much you can do and they came back with the fourth quarter.”

The Bulls also struggled scoring but they took an 84-76 lead when Carlos Boozer broke free from a double team and drove in for a layup. The Nets missed their first eight shots of the fourth quarter and fell behind by double digits (86-76) on Boozer’s easy layup as three defenders watched.

Brooklyn scored its first basket of the fourth quarter on Lopez’s tip in with 6:45 left and then cut it to 86-81 on a 3-pointer from Williams with 6:13 remaining just before Jimmy Butler could get over for the help defense.

Following a timeout and with the crowd at its loudest volume of the night, Boozer missed an open layup but Nate Robinson buried a deep jumper just before Lopez could close out for an 88-81 edge.

After Lopez missed a 15-foot jumper, Robinson missed a layup but the Bulls got the rebound and Belinelli made it a double-digit game by hitting a 3-pointer with 4:52 left.

The Nets again made it a single-digit game (91-83) when Johnson found a cutting Lopez for a layup but Noah glided to the hoop for another layup without much resistance. Wallace made it 93-85 with a layup at 3:01 and the Nets made it a five-point game on Williams’ hard drive and subsequent foul shot with 2:26 remaining.

The decibel level rose once again as the crowd implored the Nets to defend but they gave up another layup, this time to Belinelli. The Nets made it a five-point game with 1:17 to play on Lopez’s put back of a Wallace missed 3-pointer but could not cut it any further as Johnson badly missed a corner 3-pointer with 38.9 seconds remaining.

The Nets made it a four-point game (97-93) on Williams’ fourth 3-pointer of the night with 26.9 seconds remaining. After Belinelli sank two foul shots with 26.1 seconds to play, Williams badly missed a 3-pointer and Johnson airballed a 3-pointer and the Bulls celebrated while the Nets walked off the court in disappointment as the PA announcer wished the fans a happy summer.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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P.J. Carlesimo has been an assistant coach for a Game 7 twice in a nearly two-decade NBA coaching career. He has never been a head coach.

That changes Saturday night when Carlesimo and the Nets attempt to become the ninth team to win a series after trailing three games to one.

Carlesimo goes into the game feeling good about the opportunity presented in front of him and for the franchise’s first year in Brooklyn. He goes into the game with a good feeling despite the word “gutless” being thrown around twice at halftime on television broadcasts.

“I’ve got a ton of confidence in these guys,” Carlesimo said on Friday’s conference call. “They’ve been resilient all year. We stepped up many, many times when people didn’t think we could step up and we’ve played well on the road. We’ve beaten a lot of the better teams in the league and I’m confident. The reward for the way we played in the regular season is that Game 7 in the first round is in our building. I’m just very confident our guys are going to take advantage of the opportunity and continue to do what they’ve done.”

Confidence aside, Carlesimo is aware of how difficult it can be, especially after the Nets stayed alive by gutting out a 95-92 win in which Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez combined for 3-of-17 shooting and five turnovers after halftime.

“Our mantra has been kind of been the last couple of games to win and move on and get it back it to Brooklyn for Game 7,” Carlesimo said. “We certainly can’t think that we’ve done the hard part already. What’s left is going to be more difficult than the last two games and I think that’s going to be a challenge tomorrow. I think our guys can handle it but that’s a major challenge.”

Saturday will mark the first time Carlesimo has been in a Game 7 since May 22, 2006 as an assistant for San Antonio’s head coach Gregg Popovich. That night, the Spurs were unable to complete their comeback from three games to one and fell 119-111 to the Mavericks in the conference semifinals.

A year before that, Carlesimo had a front-row seat as a Popovich assistant as Tim Duncan took over the third quarter of an 81-74 victory that gave him the second of three NBA championships while coaching the Spurs.

“Hopefully I’ll respond well,” Carlesimo said. “But fortunately I don’t have to play. I think the guys that are playing are going to handle it well and I think that’s the important thing. We’ll be fine. I think Game 7s are different yes, but I don’t think the Game 7 experience is going to be the defining reason for tomorrow’s game.”

Winning this game may also mean more of an assurance Carlesimo returns as head coach after taking over the team 29 games into this season.

Carlesimo has never let that thought pop in mind, at least not publicly.

“It would mean we got to pack Sunday morning and get on a plane and do a quick turnaround and get ready for a really, really good opponent,” Carlesimo said. “Again it’s not something you have any control over. I think when you get away from it, you get to the summer, you get far away you can kind of look back.

“This has been pretty much a blur the entire year. That’s the way seasons are.”

Carlesimo will be coaching the third Game 7 played in the borough of Brooklyn and the first one since October 1956. He and the Nets are there because they won two elimination games following a crushing triple-overtime loss at the United Center a week ago.

“We want to win and we believe in our abilities and I think these guys, we have an identity now as the Brooklyn franchise and I think we think as the Brooklyn Nets and I think they want the Brooklyn Nets to advance and get into the next round,” Carlesimo said. “So let’s see what we can do. I don’t think it’s all those other factors. I just think it’s those 15 guys wanting to win for themselves and for this franchise.”

The Nets are the 210th team to fall behind 3-1 in a best-of-seven and the Nets are the 29th team to force Game 7, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Now the Nets have a chance to overcome that deficit and even with players having individual experience in seventh games, winning it would be very significant for Carlesimo.

“So I’m glad we’ve got some guys who have been there,” he said. “That may help them. For all of us, I think it’s a significant step to play a Game 7 to learn how to deal with it and take it as a positive experience going forward.”

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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The Nets were anything but gutless in Game 6.

They weren’t perfect either, but they made enough plays to keep their season going for at least two more days.

Even with Chicago’s defense on lockdown mode in the fourth quarter and even with free throws missed at a disturbing rate, the Nets found a way in Thursday’s 95-92 win at the United Center.

It was hard to stomach sometimes, with Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson a combined 3-for-17 with five turnovers after halftime and an 11-of-23 performance from the line. The Nets scored just 35 points in the second half.

Andray Blatche, who scored 13 points in Game 5, came up big again. He had 10 points in Game 6, including a spinning fadeaway shot on Joakim Noah with 1:15 left and two free throws with 19.2 remaining to provide the final margin.

All of the talk about being gutless surfaced again when TNT’s Charles Barkley said it on the halftime show because the Nets had a six-point halftime lead instead of double digits. While they could have been ahead by more after shooting well in the half, having a lead in the United Center was a victory of sorts, especially considering how the previous four visits went.

Johnson, Williams and Lopez had 17 points apiece. Gerald Wallace had 15, including a 3-pointer early in the fourth that gave the Nets a 78-73 edge and provided them with the breathing room they ultimately would need.

Chicago played without Kirk Hinrich (calf) and Luol Deng (illness). Belinelli led the Bulls with 21 points. Nate Robinson had 18, Jimmy Butler added 17 and Carlos Boozer and Noah added 14 apiece.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Joe Johnson has accepted the fate of playing with a sore foot, especially with at least one elimination game looming. There’s little he can do but spot up and hope for the best when he releases a shot.

“It’s kind of like I’m out there on one leg, honestly, man,” Johnson said after Wednesday’s practice. “I can’t really push the basketball if I get a rebound. I can’t really run pick and rolls, so basically I’m a decoy, a spot-up shooter, I can’t really do a whole lot. I’ll be the bailout guy if you get into a sticky situation just try and find me.”

Interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo also has accepted that fact while expressing the belief Johnson can’t be injured any further. He also has an appreciation for what Johnson is doing, especially since without naming names, there might be others in the league that would not do the same.

“That’s what warriors do,” Carlesimo said. “Everybody doesn’t do that. That’s what guys who are warriors, guy who really are competitors, that’s what they do.

Carlesimo said those who see the treatments, shooting drills and other routines would gain the same level of appreciation.

“Players always know,” Carlesimo said. “They’re in there, they dress together, they know what guys are going through particularly this time of the year and more. … It’s not just a matter of going out there.

“Obviously he’s got a lot of pain the next day and in this case we had two days which helps a little bit. So they know what he’s going through and they appreciate it.”

Johnson has competed through the injury, which first appeared in late-February, with mixed results.

Johnson has shot 50 percent (12-for-24) in the two wins and 42.3 percent (22-for-52) in the three losses. It also seemed to impact his 3-point shooting at least early in the series.

Johnson knows the Bulls will attempt to exploit his limitation by running him off picks and high screens while getting him to chase on defense.

“The adrenaline factors in a lot,” Johnson said. “Once I get moving on the court and it feels loose it feels better, but toward the end of the game I’m just really so focused and I try to block it out as much as I can and just try to make a big play.

“Late in games it’s just one of those times, I might have to push off and do what I have to do to get us over the hump or come up with a big play for us so I just have a tendency to play through it and gut it out.”

During the regular season, Johnson shot 9-for-10 from the field in games the Nets were tied or trailing by three points or fewer with less than a minute remaining.

In this series, he is 2-for-5, with the two baskets coming in the second overtime on Saturday. In the five games, he is shooting 13-for-27 after the third quarter.

“I think it’s a process that can make us tougher and stronger as a team,” Johnson said. “Fighting through adversity in this first round, it definitely can build character and make us much more stronger mentally. We’ll see how it goes. We definitely feel like we can win this series.”

Johnson couldn’t put a percentage on how he’s feeling but indicated that if this was a regular-season game, he probably wouldn’t play. But now that his first season in Brooklyn is on the line, that’s a concern for another time.

“I’m just giving them everything I can at this point,” Johnson said.

Right calf strain for Blatche

Since Game 4, Andray Blatche has been dealing with a strained right calf. Although he thought it was a cramp down the stretch of Game 5, it was more noticeable during the 11-plus minutes Blatche played.

Like Johnson, Blatche was not going to let an injury that seems to be minor get in the way of his production.

Blatche has been getting treatment for it and said the combination of that and adrenaline will get him on the court Thursday.

“I can give as many as you give me,” Blatche said. “Whatever they give me I’m going to go out there and play hard. I’m really expecting by tomorrow for this thing to be about 90 percent [healed]. I should be ready to play tomorrow.”

More aggression defensively for Lopez

Brook Lopez spoke about defense while his right ankle was taped Wednesday after practice. The tape on his ankle was just routine soreness which probably came from both ends of the court, especially in the shot-blocking department.

Lopez started the series with first-quarter blocks of Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer and has averaged 3.4 blocks through the postseason, second only to Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka (3.5). The Nets also are better defensively with him on the court as they allow 95.5 points per 100 possessions this series.

So when asked about his defense, Lopez conceded it has definitely improved while adding that “he was the last line of defense.”

That’s about as boastful Lopez was when touching on the topic, but he was extremely proud it came a year after being limited to five games in 2011-12 due to a foot injury.

“I’m honestly happy to be playing,” he said. “It sucked to not be on the floor playing with my teammates. I wanted to get in a place where I wouldn’t be able to get injured again and go out there and be able to play basketball and have fun.”

Hinrich sheds walking boot

Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich ditched his walking boot but that does not necessarily mean he will play Game 6. Hinrich didn’t practice due to his bruised left calf and told reporters significant improvement had to be made.

“I’m still walking very gingerly,” Hinrich told Chicago reporters at Bulls’ practice. “I haven’t tried to run or cut or jump or anything yet. I’m hoping it improves a lot. … It’s just one of those things where I took a good shot and it’s preventing me from moving very well.”

Former Knick Nate Robinson scored 20 points while playing 43 minutes in Game 5, but had just four points in the fourth quarter. He also struggled to stay in front of Deron Williams and Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau seemed unsure if Robinson would start again.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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In between their crushing triple-overtime loss in Chicago on Saturday and their impressive fourth quarter in Brooklyn on Monday, not much was said and there was not any practice other than a morning shootaround

There was a film session and while the Nets spent most of their flight watching video, they also watched another video segment on Monday unrelated to Game 4.

Instead it was footage of a halftime interview Chicago Sun-Times writer Joe Cowley gave on Brooklyn’s YES Network telecast. He stated the Bulls wanted to face the Nets in the first round because they privately felt Brooklyn was “gutless” and “heartless,” and therefore could be exposed in close games in the fourth quarter.

“Rather than do nothing, do something,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said on Tuesday’s conference call. “Did it help 15 guys? No, but maybe it helped a couple of guys. Maybe it struck a chord with a couple of guys so it was just an effort to do a little something.

“We knew we weren’t going to do anything on the court or anything like that and I’m not a Knute Rockne speaker. So it was just something that hopefully would resonate with a couple of different people.”

After closing out Monday’s 110-91 victory on a 25-7 run over the final eight minutes, players, most notably Deron Williams, brushed aside the clip as a joke.

“We didn’t need that,” Williams said. “That’s not why. That had nothing to do with it. We laughed about it. P.J. wanted us to watch it. And after it was over, we were like, ‘That’s it? What are we supposed to do now? Ah! We’re mad!’”

The comments from Cowley came before the Nets blew a 14-point lead and gave up a 16-2 run that forced the first of three overtimes.

Carlesimo said that although it was important for players to hear it, he didn’t think it made as much of an impact as knowing that Monday was the first of three elimination games the Nets will go through if they win this series which would be more of test of the team’s guts and heart.

“I think each succeeding game, if we get through Game 6, Game 7 will be that,” Carlesimo said. “We’re day-to-day. We dug ourselves a hole and we have to find a way to win on Thursday and bring it back to Brooklyn but that’s meaningless if we don’t get it done on Saturday.

“But I just think it’s each succeeding one. That was what last night was. That’s what Thursday will be and if we can get by Thursday that’s what Saturday is going to be. Elimination games are challenging games to play but knockout games are hard to play too. It’s not easy to eliminate a team, so it goes both ways.”

Watson motivated by Robinson

C.J. Watson is not the first player to dislike Nate Robinson and he will not be the last to dislike the former Knick guard who is capable of scoring points in bunches.

He has come out in recent interviews with ESPN saying he was not a fan of Robinson when they were teammates with Chicago. The feeling seemed to be mutual when Robinson threw him into the scorer’s table in the second quarter during a brief tussle.

Whether or not that has served as motivation for Watson is up to debate. Watson is currently best known for blowing a dunk in Game 4 that would have given the Nets a 16-point lead.

Watson, however, is averaging 9.2 points per game in the series and 12.5 points in the two wins. He had 11 points Monday on 4-of-8 shooting.

“I don’t know if they’re both feeding off that,” Carlesimo said. “I think it’s been a motivator for both of them. They’re both playing with a lot of emotion and they’re both playing very well. It seems to have had a positive impact on both of them.”

Watson is shooting 43.9 percent (18-for-41) in the series but Carlesimo doesn’t think it’s his best stretch of the season. Carlesimo points to a stretch from Feb. 13 to March 1 when he averaged 14.5 points per game on 53.5 percent (38-for-71) shooting while making starts for Williams and Joe Johnson.

“I think he’s played very well,” Carlesimo said. “He’s had a couple of really big games for us. He strung games together in certain periods also. I think he’s playing very well right now, as well as he’s played at any point but I don’t want to minimize all the good games he had during the regular season either.”

Two bigs are better than one

Carlesimo has been hesitant to use Andray Blatche and Brook Lopez at the same time but as the Nets scored 33 fourth-quarter points, his two centers combined for 15 points and six of the 11 baskets while limiting the Chicago starting frontcourt of Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah to six points and three rebounds.

The performance defensively is more of a determination for future instances when Carlesimo might play Blatche and Lopez together in the fourth. Monday night they played from the 6:56 mark until there were 55 seconds left.

“I think it is difficult, but sometimes how difficult it is for somebody to guard us doesn’t trump doing it [at] the other end of the floor,” Carlesimo said. “That wasn’t the case last night but we like this matchup and we feel good about going to either one of them and if we’re not stopping them on the other end and the team is kicking our butts on the boards that trumps it.”

Offensively, the duo combined for nine points and three rebounds in those six minutes, but defensively the score went from 88-84 to 106-91 as the Bulls went 1-for-5 on shots beyond 10 feet after initially getting two layups.

In the third, when Chicago cut a 10-point lead to four, that trio combined for 13 points and seven rebounds.

The pairing almost ended at the timeout with 3:15 remaining in a seven-point game as Blatche’s calf was acting up. However, after getting treatment during a timeout Carlesimo did not make a change.

“He was obviously affected,” Carlesimo said. “He didn’t want to come out and he was playing effective, so I stayed with it.”

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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In the postseason, especially in dire situations, someone else besides the stars often needs to deliver significant production. For the Nets in Game 5, that someone was backup center Andray Blatche.

Blatche scored 10 of his 13 points in fourth quarter and the Nets survived for another three days by pulling out a 110-91 victory over the Bulls Monday night.

“My main thing was I wanted to get the ball deep in the paint and just be aggressive,” Blatche said. “That’s kind of what I did. I stayed in attack mode.”

“He has done it throughout the season,” Brook Lopez said. “He is definitely capable of it and we are definitely going to need that performance again.”

Blatche finished with his most points in a playoff game and his third career double-digit postseason game. His biggest performance as a Net came despite struggling with calf pain.

“We didn’t want it to end,” Blatche said. “Nobody is ready to go home. We still feel like we have an opportunity to make it to the second round and we want to continue to fight to get to that round.”

Blatche also grabbed four of his five rebounds in the fourth quarter while helping a defensive effort which limited Chicago’s starting frontcourt of Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah to six points and three rebounds in the quarter.

“I thought he was doing a good job,” Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “I just thought he was playing very well. The biggest thing was his shot selection was excellent. He didn’t settle for jump shots unless the clock was on his back. He took the ball to the basket. He was aggressive. I thought in the second half, he defended much better than he did in the first half. He was playing very, very well.”

Blatche played virtually the entire fourth quarter, helping the Nets expand on a nerve-racking 77-74 lead for their fans. He had played just 8:33 and taken two shots in the opening 36 minutes but early in the period, as Deron Williams was getting a rest for the stretch run, Blatche helped the Nets maintain their lead and ensured Brooklyn would have two days to prepare for Game 6 Thursday night in Chicago.

His first basket came after a floating jumper by Nate Robinson cut the lead to 79-78. It was the result of a nice hustle play, as Blatche seized Kris Humphries’ missed jumper and converted the layup for an 81-78 lead.

Blatche’s next basket came in transition after Gerald Wallace forced Taj Gibson into a turnover. Wallace found Blatche with a nice outlet pass and the big man converted a finger roll for an 83-78 lead.

After Luol Deng hit a step back jumper from the left elbow, Blatche grabbed another offensive rebound and converted a short jumper to make it 85-80. Blatche later converted two foul shots after getting flagrantly fouled by Marco Belinelli with 6:56 left and hit another jumper less than a minute later.

Blatche’s minutes came at the expense of Reggie Evans, who grabbed 12 rebounds in 24 minutes. When Blatche exited to a standing ovation with 55.2 seconds left and the Nets up by 15, Evans embraced him.

“I was happy as hell,” Evans said. “I’m not really concerned about his calf right now. I know he’s going to play and he ain’t going to let us down. He’s my boy and he came through in the clutch.

“That just shows the unity in this room. There ain’t no hating. There’s all love and there may be games where I’m going to finish the games out but for him to stay focused, he’s going through so much this year and to stay poised, I’m grateful for him to be ready and do what he did and [he was] right on time.”

The Nets were up 91-84 with six minutes to play, but that can be an eternity in the fourth quarter of an NBA playoff game. But unlike Saturday, they did not wilt, getting a few highlight plays to close the game out properly.

The final minutes were the biggest challenge but instead of rehashing the last fourth quarter they played, the tone during timeouts was business-like with a focus on making the plays that eluded them Saturday and in the other two losses.

“We didn’t want to say much,” Williams said. “After the last game, it was pretty evident what we needed to do and that was close the game out and I thought we did a great job of it.”

“[We were] not necessary angry but more aware, just basically focused on closing this game,” Blatche said. “We got up. We wanted to keep the lead and not make mental mistakes and close the game out and I think we did a great job of that.”

Wallace hit maybe the biggest two shots — a 3-pointer in front of Chicago’s bench with 2:18 left, followed by a steal of Robinson’s pass and a transition dunk to make it 103-91 with two minutes left.

Williams scored 12 of his 23 points in the third quarter, looking like the player who aggressively slashed to the basket in Game 1. Lopez struggled to get deep post position at times against Joakim Noah but still managed a 28-point game.

Robinson led the Bulls with 20 points but after getting 23 in the fourth quarter Saturday, he scored just four down the stretch Monday night.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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The argument can be made Nate Robinson should have been ejected for driving C.J. Watson into the scorer’s table during a brief scuffle in the second quarter.

With four minutes left in regulation and a 14-point Nets lead it seemed inconsequential. Instead, the former Knicks guard carried the Bulls down the stretch in a 142-134 triple-overtime victory over Brooklyn.

The Nets, down 3-1 in the series, face elimination at home Monday night.

Robinson scored 29 points after the third quarter and 34 overall. He had a 12-0 run that cut a 109-95 lead to 109-107 with just over a minute remaining in regulation.

Being unable to stop Robinson was not the only Nets problem. With a chance to ice the game in regulation, Watson missed an easy transition dunk, Reggie Evans missed two free throws and the Nets gave up a 16-2 run to close out the fourth quarter.

Neither team gained significant separation in the overtimes until Chicago took a 133-128 lead on a Taj Gibson baseline jumper, a 135-130 lead on a jumper by Luol Deng with 2:35 remaining and a 137-132 edge on a Nazr Mohammed basket with 48 seconds left on a pick-and-roll play with Kirk Hinrich.

The final blow for the Nets came with 19 seconds left when Boozer missed a foul shot and Mohammed put back the miss for a 140-134 lead.

The Nets got solid individual performances from their trio of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez but each player was unable to changed the outcome in favor of Brooklyn.

Williams scored 32 points in 58 minutes, but had just two points after a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in regulation.

Johnson scored 22 points in 48 minutes and hit a buzzer-beating shot at the end of the first overtime. Although he hit two big shots in the final 12 seconds of that period, he also missed two jumpers that would have expanded a 116-113 lead. He also missed a potential go-ahead jumper with 6.9 seconds to play in the second overtime.

Lopez had 24 points in 52 minutes but missed a crucial free throw with 48.7 seconds left that would have given the Nets a one-point lead.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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C.J. Watson is not the Nets player you expect to take maybe the biggest shot of your season.

The Nets lost to the Bulls in Chicago, 79-76, in another physical contest similar to Game 2′s Nets loss. Brooklyn made a furious charge late in the game, but a game-tying 3-point attempt by Watson missed at the buzzer.

The Nets are now behind in the series, 2-1, to Chicago with Game 3 to come on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.).

Deron Williams, who made just one field goal in Game 2, was better in Game 3. But that wasn’t saying much. He finished the game 5-of-14 for 18 points and four assists. Brook Lopez again led the team with 22 points. He added nine rebounds and seven blocks.

The Nets trailed 77-64 with 4:56 left in the game, but slowly chiseled away at the lead. Lopez made two free throws and then had back-to-back buckets to pull the deficit to single digits. Marshon Brooks then nailed a jumper to make it 77-72 in favor of the Bulls with two minutes left.

But the Nets struggled to keep up the momentum after the 8-0 run. Brooks missed a lay-up with 1:25 left and Williams missed a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left. Lopez had a dunk with 14 seconds left to make it 77-74. And after a Nate Robinson made 1-of-2 free throws, Williams hit a shot to make it 78-76 with just five seconds left.

Joakim Noah hit 1-of-2 from the line and Watson, not exactly the first candidate to take a game-tying shot, had his attempt rim out as the clock expired.

Carlos Boozer (22 points and 16 rebounds) and Luol Deng (21 points and 10 rebounds) both finished with double-doubles for Chicago.

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This was the style the entire world expected in a playoff game between the Nets and Bulls. There would be no more pushing the tempo and running up and down the court for transition baskets like Game 1.

Instead the Nets found themselves in a grinding postseason game that had several similarities to their four regular season games against the Bulls, when they didn’t score more than 90 points in any one.

A late run at the end of the first half seemed to indicate they could but a slow start in the second half eventually doomed the Nets to a 90-82 loss last night, ensuring they will play a fifth game seven days from now at home.

“It’s a tough loss,” Deron Williams said. “They were definitely the aggressor this game where we were the aggressor in Game 1. They brought it to us. They had more energy than us and they just played better than us.”

Now they will have to play two games in Chicago, with Game 3 coming Thursday night and Game 4 taking place Saturday afternoon.

The Nets started 2-for-9 then went 16-for-30 to get within one at halftime on a C.J. Watson buzzer-beating 3-pointer. It was among the few times they did not encounter resistance from Chicago’s vaunted defense.

The Nets missed their first five shots of the second half and went 2-for-19 with 11 points in the third quarter.

“We had our frontline guys,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “Their defense was very good and our execution was not as good as it needs to be and we were taking the ball out of bounds too many times. So all things contributed to it and when we got back in it, it was because we got a couple of stops.”

“That was the quarter that definitely did it to us,” Williams said.

Carlesimo tried to stage a comeback with Joe Johnson and four reserves to start the fourth. The group got within 73-68 on a short jumper from Andray Blatche with 7:55 remaining to bring the crowd back into it.

Deron Williams checked in with the hopes of completing the comeback, but the rally got halted briefly by a Joakim Noah dunk and a Nate Robinson 3-pointer.

The Nets reinserted Brook Lopez into the game to have him play with Blatche, Watson, Johnson and Williams. The Nets made it a four-point game on a 3-pointer from Joe Johnson with 4:12 remaining and again a minute later on a Lopez open layup.

Brooklyn could never get any closer as Deng and Noah secured the win with timely baskets while the Nets missed eight of their final nine shots to finish at 35.4 percent (29-for-82) for the game.

“It was basically the same [defense],” Johnson said. “Obviously they picked it up. We just didn’t have the continuity and the flow we had the first game.”

The Nets rarely developed a consistent rhythm offensively, epitomized by Williams, who scored eight points on 1-for-9 shooting. Williams missed his first six shots before he hit a long jumper with 6:35 remaining in the third.

“I didn’t play good,” Williams said. “I’m not going to play like this again.”

Unlike Game 1, he was not able to get to the rim for easy layups and when he was unable to do, it led to passive offense and contested jump shots.

Johnson was not much better. He missed his first four shots of the second half, finishing with 17 points on 6-for-18 shooting. Lopez led the Nets with 21, but he did not seem as assertive as Game 1 when he started with blocks on Carlos Boozer and Noah in the opening three minutes. He faced a version of Noah who seemed to be moving and jumping better after being limited to 13 1/2 minutes.

The Nets scored 56 points on 28-for-38 points in the paint Saturday but this time the number dropped to 30 on 15-of-36 and during the second half, the Nets were 6-for-19 in the paint.

“They kept us out of the paint tonight,” Keith Bogans said. “They did a good job of keeping our points in the paint down. In Game 1, it seemed like we were getting a lot of layups, easy points in the paint, but today they just stepped it up defensively all the way around the board.”

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Just over two minutes into his first career playoff game, Brook Lopez stepped in front of Carlos Boozer as the Chicago power forward inched closer to the basket. Lopez did not concede any space and as Boozer got within five feet, he blocked the shot.

Less than a minute later Lopez did it again, denying Joakim Noah an easy layup.

Those two blocks established a strong defensive tone and in their first playoff game at the Barclays Center, the Nets led by as many as 28 points in a mostly dominant 106-89 victory on Saturday night.

“I was excited and very anxious because I’ve been waiting for this for a while and was very pleased with the results,” Lopez said. “The energy was electric and it was a lot of fun, especially with the team playing at a high level.”

“It feels good knowing that you can Lo (Lopez) back there to do stuff like that,” forward Reggie Evans said. “I think it’s good for him also, knowing he can get some key blocks like that. It’s great.”

Before the game veteran reserve Jerry Stackhouse sang the national anthem and Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov, while wearing a dark black suit to adhere to the “Blackout in Brooklyn” theme, addressed the crowd by saying:

“I heard there was a blackout in Brooklyn. I came to keep lights on … Thank you for passion and support.”

Then the real show started in the first postseason pro sports game played in Brooklyn since Game 7 of the 1956 World Series at Ebbets Field as a fired up Nets team came very close to setting franchise record for fewest points allowed in the first quarter and first half in their postseason history in front of a frenzied crowd that was loud from start to finish without much encouragement from the sound system.

“I think we used the words locked in and I think we locked in today,” Deron Williams said. “From shootaround, we focused on our plays and schemes. It all carried over to tonight and hopefully we can do the same thing the next night and not just our first playoff game.”

It also featured a solid performance from Brooklyn’s trio of Lopez, Williams and Joe Johnson. They combined for 59 points on 23-of-43 from the field with each player scoring in different ways.

Lopez scored 19 of his 21 in the dominant first half, heating up after a 2-for-6 start. He scored on mostly post-ups and mid-range shots while also spreading the floor after passing out of double teams.

“I have so much confidence to the point where I know he’s going to bring it every night,” Evans said. “I won’t worry about him. It’s typical Lo (Lopez), he’s here early, ready to roll and he did what he did.”

“I’ve been on Brook all year about when we get two on the ball on my penetration, just run right to the rim because he’s going to get easy baskets,” Williams said. “He’s done a great job of paying attention and learning and growing as a player.”

Williams scored 15 of his 22 in the first half, highlighting his first playoff game in three years with a reverse dunk that saw him execute a double pump move late in the third quarter that shocked Evans and had him going ‘whoa, are you serious’.

“He’s just playing at an extremely high level,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “He pushed the ball, he distributed, he defended and he played extremely well.”

When Williams wasn’t doing that, other highlights included a 3-pointer after doing a shoulder fake that sent Kirk Hinrich out of bounds as well as several easy transition layups, allowing the Nets to push the pace against a team they did not score 90 points against during four regular season meetings.

Johnson scored 16 points but the Nets did not need to run many sets for him because o the work performed on the defensive end in the early minute.

The Nets held the Bulls to 30.4 percent shooting in the first half and didn’t allow Chicago to score its 10th point until there was 4 ½ minutes remaining. The Nets had a three-point lead at the time but by the time the Bulls reached 20 points, the lead swelled to nine and when Chicago finally reached 30 points late in the first half, Brooklyn had a 19-point deficit.

The defensive tone established in the opening 12 minutes did not necessarily neutralize Boozer (25 points, eight rebounds) but it certainly seemed to adversely impact Noah and Luol Deng, who were a combined 5-for-17 and scored just 10 points.

“(We can be) very dangerous,” Johnson said. “This is probably the best game we played all season.”

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Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo was going through pregame preparation and participating in the annual team photo at center court when news emerged about the multiple explosions at the Boston Marathon.

“Somebody said what had happened and I wasn’t aware even of it at all to be honest until I saw a little glimpse of it,” Carlesimo said.

Carlesimo said he found out when a team security official sent him a memo telling him to be vigilant in the same way the MTA urges transit riders.

“The safety and security of our guests and employees at Barclays Center are of paramount importance,” Nets CEO Brett Yormark said in a statement. “Barclays Center staff works very closely with the NYPD and other New York City agencies to ensure our stringent safety and security policies are strictly enforced.”

Though Carlesimo has been coaching in NBA arenas for most of the past two decades, the most amount of concern was when he an assistant on the first Dream Team with Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Patrick Ewing.

“The most concerned I ever was in ’92, was in Barcelona, because of the incredible amount of security that was attached to the Dream Team,” Carlesimo said. “Even if you felt really secure, you just look around and say ‘man this is incredible.’”

Wallace returns, other starters sit

Gerald Wallace spent part of his pregame warm-ups taking 3-pointers from varying areas of the court and before his routine ended, he hoisted a few from just out-of-bounds near the Nets bench.

Wearing a dark brace to protect the lower left leg that had a contusion in the previous two games, Wallace returned after missing his ninth and 10th game of the season this weekend.

Wallace last played on Wednesday in Boston when he scored two points and had two rebounds in 15 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back. Since scoring 12 points March 27 in Portland, Wallace has shot 6-for-19 and grabbed just 12 rebounds in his last six games.

“We need to get him back in the flow,” Carlesimo said. “We saw dramatic evidence of how much we missed him on Sunday. We need to find out where he’s at. He’s still got a couple of days before the weekend but hopefully he can play relatively pain-free tonight and get some minutes out of him Wednesday also.

While Wallace returned with the hopes of re-discovering his shooting strokes, Brook Lopez (mid-back contusion), Deron Williams (left knee contusion) Joe Johnson (sore left heel) and Reggie Evans (sore left shoulder) sat out. None of the injuries sounded serious and Johnson participated in pregame warm-ups.

The timing of their absences had more to do with the Nets locking up the fourth seed. They were still trying for the third spot, but a loss in Toronto eliminated that possibility.

However, Carlesimo indicated he planned on playing them Wednesday against Detroit since that will be the team’s only full contact game action until Game 1 of the playoffs over the weekend.

“That’s the plan,” he said. “If they’re healthy we want them to play. We’re not going to play them 40 minutes. We’ve been saying it all along, they can get hurt in practice too but they’ve got to be sharp. Wednesday should be more beneficial to us preparation-wise.

Preparing for unknown opponent

The Nets will play either the Bulls or Hawks, two teams they faced four times apiece. They went 3-5 in those games and have faced Chicago and Atlanta four times since the All-Star break.

A normal preparation period consists of viewing video tapes of the opponent at an estimated time of 100 hours. However, not knowing has made the work a bit more challenging with each time getting 50 hours of video preparation.

Currently, the Hawks have a one-game lead in the race to be Brooklyn’s first-round opponent.

“It’s a pain in the neck,” Carlesimo said. “It would have been so much easier knowing which was. We got to divide the work, what we’re doing. It just means more hours.

“It’s not like they don’t know us and we don’t know them. But you’d still like to go into greater depth and the preparation would be simpler if you knew who the team was.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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The Knicks head to Chicago for a key Thursday night matchup riding a wave of euphoria not felt by the franchise in quite some time.

Following Tuesday night’s Atlantic Division-clinching win, the Knicks (51-26) finally ended the Celtics’ five-year reign of terror in the division, while also further separating themselves from the Pacers (49-29) for the all-important No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The seeding, if it stands, means only the Heat (61-16) will have homecourt advantage over the Knicks in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Head coach Mike Woodson announced that winning the division was a “long overdue” prize for the franchise, prideful that one of the team’s “major goals since veteran’s camp” was met.

J.R. Smith, one of the frontrunners for Sixth Man of the Year, said winning the division and gaining a stranglehold on the No. 2 seed outweighs whatever personal bests he’s accomplishing this season.

“It’s a great thing to achieve one of your main goals, and now we’ve just got to go get that gold ball,” Smith said about capturing the Larry O’Brien trophy, something the franchise hasn’t done in 40 years.

The Knicks seemingly have history on their side, as this current 13-game winning streak is the franchise’s longest since winning 15 in a row from March 1, 1994 to April 2, 1994 — a season which ended in an NBA Finals appearance. The Knicks can tie the franchise record of 18 in a row, set early in their first NBA championship season of 1969-70, by winning their final five games.

But before that happens, the Knicks need to beat the Bulls (42-35), a team which has experience in ending long winning streaks. They ended the Heat’s 27-game winning streak last month. The Bulls are 3-0 against the Knicks in the season series, so it is a tough task for New York. But should the visitors pull out the victory, there’s no telling how long the Knicks’ streak can extend.

Carmelo Anthony, who is enjoying his own special season as the league’s leading scorer, said he appreciates what the team has achieved so far, but added he’s confident there’s much more to come.

“There’s no reason not to have a smile on your face at this moment,” Anthony said. “We’ve accomplished one of our goals that we set before the season in training camp, [but] it’s a stepping stone for us.”

Knicks notes

» Power forward Kenyon Martin, the Knicks’ latest big man to go down with an injury, will likely be out for Thursday’s game in Chicago. Martin injured his left ankle midway through the fourth quarter in Tuesday night’s win. X-rays were negative, but Woodson didn’t sound optimistic about seeing Martin again on the floor anytime soon, as he said Martin had a “severe ankle sprain.”

» The Knicks also announced Tyson Chandler (bulging disc in neck) is out, while power forward Marcus Camby (plantar fasciitis) is doubtful.

Follow Knicks beat writer Tony Williams on Twitter @TBone8.

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Brook Lopez had a start to remember. The finish, however, was something he would prefer to forget.

Despite scoring 28 points, Lopez failed three times when the offense went to him in the final minute and the Nets were handed a disappointing 92-90 loss to the Bulls.

The game was decided on Nate Robinson’s floater with 22.7 seconds remaining as a result of a bad pass by Lopez as he tried to post up.

“Let’s start with the post-up. I felt like I was in the key for a little, so I was looking through my options of where to kick it out to,” Lopez said. “It was a terrible play on my part.”

The worst however was yet to come for Lopez, who was 10-for-19 from the field but missed eight of his final 10 shots.

With 7.9 seconds remaining, Lopez had a layup attempt partially blocked by Nazr Mohammed despite getting deep post position. Then as the final seconds ticked off, he missed an open 17-footer that would have forced overtime.

“The next play D-Will hit me with a good pass, I didn’t finish strong though and the same thing happened on the third play,” Lopez said. “I got a good look and it didn’t go down but at that point though you can’t really blame the last play for what happened previously.”

“It was a good shot,” Williams said. “We’ll take that shot 10 out of 10 times. It’s his spot on the floor and he had a good look.”

Had Lopez been able to make a play in those three possessions, the Nets could have won despite blowing a 16-point lead. The game would have been remembered for several clutch plays by Joe Johnson and Deron Williams.

Instead it was lamented as a game that slipped away due to an inability to stop Carlos Boozer, rebound or hold on to the ball. Boozer scored 19 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, the Bulls dominated the glass by a 46-30 margin (23-11 in the second half) and the Nets committed eight of their 16 turnovers in the fourth.

“In the first half, we were the more aggressive team,” Nets interim head Coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “We were the more physical team and we defended really well. In the second half they set the tone. They were more physical than we were, particularly on the boards and we obviously never got a handle on Carlos.”

A win also would have given the Nets a tie in the four-game season series with Chicago. Instead, they saw their lead over both Atlanta and Chicago reduced to 1 1/2 games in the standings.

“It’s tough,” Johnson said. “This is a game that we desperately needed considering where we are at the standings at this point. In the first half we were pretty good. In the second half I didn’t think we pushed the ball as much as we did in the first.”

Williams scored nine of his 30 in the final 3 1/2 minutes and his spinning layup around Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer provided the Nets with a 90-87 lead with 32.7 seconds left.

Johnson scored nine of his 12 in the fourth quarter and hit a big 3-pointer that gave the Nets an 88-86 lead with 1:14 to play.

Each time, the Bulls had an answer and when the Nets couldn’t generate a good response, they sustained one of their more disappointing losses of the season.

“I contributed a lot to how the final score ended up and that’s not something I’m happy with,” Lopez said.

Long before coming up empty in the final minute, Lopez and the Nets were scorching. Lopez made his first six shots, eight of his first nine and had 18 points as the Nets took a 13-point lead that increased to 16 five minutes into the second.

Then the aggressiveness stopped, the turnovers started and much to the delight of the many Chicago fans that made the trip to Brooklyn, the collapse was on.

“We couldn’t get stops when we needed them,” Johnson said. “We had a bunch of breakdowns defensively and gave them a lot of easy baskets.”

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Joe Johnson was officially listed as a game-time decision Thursday night but a few minutes after he began warming up, general manager Billy King strolled over to a group of interested reporters and declared his shooting guard was active.

Johnson returned after missing the previous five games with a sore left heel. He participated fully in practice Tuesday but according to interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo, Johnson did not respond well, which is why he sat him out Wednesday in a blowout victory at Cleveland.

The Nets went 5-3 on their eight-game road trip and Johnson shot 14-for-41 while playing 92 minutes. By having a winning road trip, the Nets may have further secured their grasp on the fourth seed, which presents Carlesimo with the delicate scenario of managing health and trying to win games.

“I think the biggest thing is to get Joe back, get him minutes and kind of get him going,” Carlesimo said. “I would say it’s our No. 1 priority. We don’t want to lose eight or nine games, whatever we have left, but the No. 1 priority would be for Joe to be healthy and to be playing minutes and for us to get used to him being on the floor again and back to being normal.”

Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Johnson’s recent absence has been second-year guard Marshon Brooks. Brooks has played 26.4 minutes per game in his previous five games and has been productive.

In those minutes, Brooks is averaging 12.6 points,  aided immensely by a 27 points on 12-for-16 shooting Wednesday.

“There’s one thing I’m not concerned with Marshon and it’s his confidence,” Carlesimo said. “He’ll be fine. He’s playing well and he’ll continue to play well.”

Daily Rose update

Derrick Rose has yet to appear in a game this season as he recovers from a serious left knee injury suffered nearly a year ago in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against Philadelphia.

The usual routine for Rose is to shoot in the pregame warmups and though Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau feels his return could occur soon, he also trusts Rose to decide when the time is right.

“It’s on him,” Thibodeau said. “Only he knows. We have to trust him. As I’ve said many times, I trust him implicitly.”

Rose was not the only missing rotation player for Chicago, which entered 2 1/2 games behind the Nets.

Joakim Noah, who also missed the Feb. 1 meeting in Brooklyn, sat out for the seventh straight game with a sore right foot. Richard Hamilton missed his 17th consecutive game with back spasms.

Also missing for Chicago was Taj Gibson, who reinjured his left knee Tuesday. Any decision to shut him down will be made with the team medical staff.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Records through March 17:

1. Miami Heat (51-14, previous No. 1) – The Heat went into Monday night’s game against the Celtics literally forgetting how to lose. With 22 wins in a row this season, Miami is just waiting to prey on postseason victims.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (50-17, previous No. 2) – Metro was burned by the Thunder last week when they lost badly to the Tony Parker-less Spurs. Two big back-to-backs ahead: Home vs. Nuggets, away vs. Grizzlies.

3. Denver Nuggets (45-22, previous No. 6) - A gritty win over the Grizzlies last Friday earned Denver its 11th straight win. The Heat may laugh at just 11 in a row, but Denver is legit.

4. Memphis Grizzlies (44-21 previous No. 4) - Two tough losses on the road in Denver and in Utah – very hard places to win in. A Memphis-Denver series will go to the home team.

5. Los Angeles Clippers (46-21, previous No. 3) - The Nuggets beat the Grizzlies, who beat the Clippers. Therefore, the Nuggets would beat the Clippers. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

6. San Antonio Spurs (51-16, previous No. 5) - The Spurs continue to kick adversity square in the face, but at some point adversity will kick back harder – unless Tony Parker can return in time.

7. Indiana Pacers (40-26, previous No. 7) – Things aren’t going as planned for Indy lately. Exhibit A: Philly’s Spencer “Abdul-Jabbar” Hawes racked up 18 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, and seven blocks in the 76ers’ 98-91 win Saturday. Um, what?

8. Houston Rockets (36-31, previous No. 8) - The Rockets have three days to think about their 30-point loss to the Warriors on Sunday. Hopefully they’re over it by Wednesday’s big game against the ninth-seeded Jazz.

9. Boston Celtics (36-29, previous No. 11) – They could be the second-best team in the East now, which really isn’t saying much when you consider how bad every non-Miami team in the East actually is.

10. Atlanta Hawks (37-29, previous No. 13) - Three straight wins for the Hawks, including two over the Lakers and Nets. They are pesky. They’ll put up a fight. But ultimately, they’ll come up very short in the postseason.

11. Los Angeles Lakers (36-32, previous No. 12) – Mike D’Antoni is clearly having an effect on Kobe Bryant. Bryant couldn’t believe that Atlanta’s Dahntay Jones played defense (?!) on him, which led to him landing on Jones’ ankle.

12. Brooklyn Nets (38-28, previous No. 10) - The Knicks are begging the Nets to take the division, but the hipsters in Brooklyn are way too into being “up and coming, man.” That’s fine by the Celtics.

13. Golden State Warriors (38-30, previous No. 15) - Somehow, one of the worst defenses in the NBA (Warriors) limited one of the best offenses in the NBA (Rockets) to 78 points on Sunday. Maybe there is a sliver of hope for this squad after all.

14. New York Knicks (38-26, previous No. 9) – The Knicks are officially falling apart. And honestly, who could have seen a team of 40-year-olds running out of gas down the stretch? Get Allan Houston on the phone!

15. Chicago Bulls (36-29, previous No. 14) - Pretty sure there was a report that came out last week saying Bulls point guard Derrick Rose could play very soon, or not at all this season. And that about sums up that situation right now.

16. Milwaukee Bucks (33-32, previous No. 16) - It should be Miami vs. Milwaukee in the first round of the playoffs. Nothing against Milwaukee, but American Airlines Arena can go ahead and book Game 5′s date for another event.

17. Utah Jazz (34-32, previous No. 18) - Is this almost the part where we say, “the Jazz are singing the blues”? And if so, how many years in a row is it allowed to be said. Got to be close to the limit.

18. Dallas Mavericks (31-35, previous No. 17) – Mark Cuban and the Mavericks’ fan base made sure to boo the heck out of Derek Fisher upon his return on Sunday. Whatever takes their minds off booing their own team.

19. Portland Trail Blazers (31-34, previous No. 19) – A five-game road trip starting last night and ending in OKC on Sunday should all but guarantee the Blazers’ terrible odds in the NBA lottery.

20. Toronto Raptors (26-341 previous No. 20) – To be honest, the Raptors don’t belong in the same power rankings list as the 19 teams ahead of them. Just needed to fill space.

Follow Metro sports writer Jimmy Toscano on Twitter @Jimmy_Toscano

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