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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In Game 2 and 3, Deron Williams struggled in replicating his strong showing on shots from 10 feet or less. Many times when he tried to do something, Kirk Hinrich was shadowing him.

Williams didn’t have that problem Monday as Hinrich sat out with an injured left calf he suffered Saturday which left him in a walking boot.

In Brooklyn’s first two losses, Williams shot 6-for-23 and the Nets shot well under 40 percent. In Game 4, Williams was 9-for-14 through three quarters but missed nine of last 11 shots in the fourth quarter and overtimes.

“It’s difficult,” Hinrich said to reporters at Chicago’s morning shootaround. “Nobody wants to miss playoff games. There’s no question, this is what you look to all year. There’s nothing really I can do at this point, other than just continue to try and improve it every day and see how it goes.”

Hinrich has shot 16-of-34 in Chicago’s three wins after opening the series with a 0-for-3 night. However, it is defensively where he has shined by fronting Williams.

He has kept Williams out of the paint and limited his aggressiveness after he was 7-for-9 on shots from 10 feet or less. It also has limited his ability to find Brook Lopez for post-ups.

Now it’s up to the Nets to capitalize even if it means exposure to the potential explosiveness of Nate Robinson.

“He’s one of those guys that can get it going and get in a zone,” Carlesimo said. “It doesn’t matter — good shots, bad shots, bank shots — whatever he’s doing it can go in.”

Nets comment on Jason Collins

Jason Collins began his career with the Nets just as the team experienced a renaissance in 2001-02. He played six and a half seasons with New Jersey before joining five other teams.

That’s not why he was in the news Monday. In this week’s upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated, he wrote an op-ed stating he is coming out as gay and didn’t think he could do so 10 years ago.

“I just think the NBA reflects society and I think society hopefully is a lot more mature or accepting or ready for acting the way we should act right now,” Carlesimo said. “That implies we weren’t ready in ’03. I don’t know if it happened in ’03 it would have been any different. I think it’s great that Jason did it. It’s extremely courageous on his part but I think the NBA will react very, very well.

“We’re only a tiny part but I think they will react very, very well. I don’t know if I could say, ‘Oh god, I’m glad this didn’t happen in ’03, we wouldn’t have been ready then.’ I think we very well could have been then. I hope that we would react even better than the rest of society. We’re a little bit part of society but given the family aspect and what we all do together every year, I think we could handle it a lot better.”

Several former teammates used Twitter to express their support, including Jason Kidd and Bostjan Nachbar.

Kidd said: “Jason’s sexuality doesn’t change the fact that he is a great friend and was a great teammate.”

Nachbar said: “I’m surprised but happy for big fella to get it off his chest.”

As for the current Nets, general manager Billy King issued the following statement:

“Jason Collins was a vital member of the New Jersey Nets for six and a half years, and as an executive with a competing NBA team, I always respected the standard he set for team play and the example he set for the league in playing with integrity and purpose. He exemplifies everything we look for in players, and for those players and associates within our organization, our primary focus is creating the most accepting and respectful environment for everyone to succeed.”

Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson also issued brief statements:

“It’s an honor for me to call Jason Collins a friend,” Lopez said. “I admire his dignity as well as his courage to come out. I’ll always have his back.”

“Jason Collins was one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Johnson said. “I respect his tremendous courage to come out and will always support him.”

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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The plantar fasciitis Joe Johnson was dealing with during February and early March has returned and with the Nets currently tied at one game apiece in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with Chicago it is something Johnson has been forced to accept and cope with.

Johnson did not practice Wednesday and the Nets are officially listing him as a game-time decision, though Johnson and interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo did not sound alarmed and seem to believe the shooting guard will play Thursday night.

“Hopefully, [I can play],” Johnson said. “This is valuable for us. We’ve battled. We’ve been through ups and downs the whole year. I’m going to do whatever I can to be out there.”

“It’s unfortunate but injuries happen and hopefully he’s going to be OK,” Carlesimo said. “If he’s not, other guys have to pick it up.”

In his first two playoff games as a Net, Johnson is 13-for-31 from the field. He started Game 2 3-for-5 in the first quarter, but was 3-for-13 the rest of the game.

According to Johnson, at some point in the first quarter the ailment flared up again. He did not specify the exact moment in the period but from the 6:04 mark to the 1:34 mark, Johnson hit a fastbreak layup, a nine-foot floating jumper and a 3-pointer.

His final shot of the first quarter was a missed 3-pointer, which began a stretch of eight straight misses until a 3-pointer with 5:18 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“That’s no excuse, man,” Johnson said. “It was definitely a game that got away that we should’ve won. I’m a little sore but I’ll be able to give them what I got.”

Johnson missed four games with what the team said was a sore let heel and seemed to be over it but said it lingered and that it was a small amount of plantar fasciitis. Since these games significantly more crucial than regular season games in the middle of the winter, there is little time to cope with it other than just rest and treatment.

“I think it may have been a little bit of plantar fasciitis in February when it first started,” Johnson said. “Now it’s deep into the plantar fasciitis. It’s just something I’ll have to fight through.

“It lingered here and there. I had my good days and bad days. It’s just something that needs rest and I don’t have time for it right now.”

Johnson is not the only player in this series dealing with a painful foot injury. Chicago’s Joakim Noah has played nearly 40 minutes with a foot injury while totaling 15 points and 15 rebounds but, as Johnson pointed out, the duties of a shooting guard are vastly different than a center.

“I’m chasing guys off screens, penetrating [and] cutting,” Johnson said. “He’s a big man, so it’s a lot different.”

And like Noah, even though both were considered game-time decisions, nobody is expecting Johnson to sit.

“Oh, he’ll play,” Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters at Bulls’ practice. “Don’t worry.”

Adjustments critical for Williams

For many players the best defense mechanism about a bad performance is to merely shrug it off and chalk it up to “one of those days.” That’s the method Deron Williams selected when discussing his 1-for-9 showing in Game 2.

“I had a bad game,” Williams said. “It happens. Relax.”

The Nets will hardly be in a position to relax if it happens again. The main cause was the constant double teams he faced in various pick-and-roll situations and away from the basket.

“They got two people on him, particularly in the pick and rolls,” Carlesimo said. “He was able to split it a lot but they got two people on him. When he comes off screens, they got two people on him and he saw a loaded floor, which they do. When you get into the paint, there’s people there. There’s three, four or five people there. I’m sure they did some things different. I think it was more they did things better.”

In the times that he did not face a double team, Williams missed four open 3-pointers by his count. In Game 1 he made two 3-pointers and attacked the rim, as he was 7-for-9 on shots from 10 feet or less as opposed to his 1-for-3 showing in that category Monday.

“I missed shots and let them dictate what I was doing a little bit and just got a little passive but I’ll be fine,” Williams said. “I had four open 3s that I missed. I make those, that’s 12 more points and we’re not even talking about it.”

And it seems the best way to counter the slew of defenders is to drive to the rim with more aggressiveness like Williams did on Saturday.

“Be aggressive but read what’s there from the defense and when it’s appropriate and when you can get it to the rim and when we want you to attack — attack,” Carlesimo said of how Williams can respond. “When it’s not, take what they give us.”

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Deron Williams has participated in 630 regular season and postseason games since entering the NBA in 2005. Like any other prominent player, he has experienced poor shooting nights but none as poor in a big spot as Game 2.

Williams was 1-for-9 from the field while going against a variety of defenders, including Kirk Hinrich whom he often eluded in Game 1. The one previous time he struggled in a playoff game was when he was in foul trouble and went 1-for-11 in Game 5 of the 2007 Western Conference semifinals against Golden State. But Derek Fisher and others stepped up in a 13-point win that night.

Nobody stepped up Monday due to a combination of poor execution and a lack of adjustments to Chicago’s defense.

After an ugly performance evened the series, Williams promised to be better and a day later, interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo backed up his point guard.

“I think he’ll bounce back because he’s an excellent player,” Carlesimo said on a conference call. “He’s been on a great run. They did a good job of getting people to him an awful lot of the time and when he penetrated, they did a good job contesting his shots.

“He wasn’t able to finish at the rim effectively but a lot of it was that he took a couple of threes late too. It is what it is too and Deron, he missed shots, he had an off game [and] he’s got to play better. He’s going to be fine.”

Before Monday, the last time Williams was held to one field goal was a 1-for-12 showing on March 17, 2011 in an 83-74 loss to the Bulls at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Only three Bulls who appeared in the game will be in the series (Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and Taj Gibson). The rest of the Bulls included Derrick Rose, Kurt Thomas, Omer Asik, Ronnie Brewer and current teammates Keith Bogans and C.J. Watson.

Of course, Williams did not quite have the talent around him that he has now. He had Brook Lopez but the Nets’ starting two guard that night was Anthony Morrow while Kris Humphries and Damion James were the starting forwards.

Only three Bulls who appeared in the game will be in the series (Joakim Noah and Luol Deng and Taj Gibson). The rest of the Bulls included Derrick Rose, Kurt Thomas, Omer Asik, Ronnie Brewer and current teammates Keith Bogans and C.J. Watson.

That night Williams was hounded by Rose, but the next time he takes the court, he will face the same array of multiple defenders. It will be up to him to make those decisions and find those who may have better scoring opportunities if Williams has similar encounters with Chicago’s defense.

“I think he has a good sense of [calling plays], and I think it’s always a back-and-forth with us,” Carlesimo said. “In the timeouts [the coaches are] normally going to call something, and when we’re going in the flow and when we’re effective, we just let it go, and Deron makes a real high percentage of the calls.

“We’ll talk any time there’s a dead ball when it’s appropriate, but for the most part, he’s gonna make the calls. When it’s a night when we’re struggling, then it is more of a challenge, but I don’t think it’ll be any different [in Game 3] and I don’t think it’s an adjustment. We’ll watch the tape. We’ll talk to him about what we see. We’ve got two days to go, but he’s way above average in terms of his feel for what’s working, what’s not working, who needs to be more involved, who hasn’t had a shot in a while, who’s got a favorable matchup. Some point guards are very comfortable with doing that, and he’s way above average in terms of what he sees on the floor and getting us into the sets we need to be in.”

Chicago’s defense forced the Nets to take 21 3-pointers. The team took at least 20 in 53 games during the regular season. The Nets won 31 of those games and were 23-11 under Carlesimo when attempting at least 30 3-pointers. In games where they missed at least 15 3-pointers, the Nets are 15-19.

A high volume of 3-point attempts does not necessarily bother Carlesimo. Rather it is how they develop that is more of priority.

“It’s very important but at the same time if we’re moving ball, particularly getting it to the other side of the floor and guys have open shots and are making them, that’s more time and score situation,” Carlesimo said. “I think if we do move the ball and it’s appropriate and we’re getting it to the weak side and the looks are good.”

George wins Most Improved Player

Nobody on the Nets was expected to win this award so it wasn’t a surprise when Indiana forward Paul George was named the league’s Most Improved Player with 52 out of 120 possible first-place votes.

However, the voting did contain some Nets as Andray Blatche picked up one first-place vote as he played in all 82 games for the first time in his career, while Lopez picked up a third-place vote after his first All-Star season.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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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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A day before addressing the crowd prior to Game 1, Nets owner Mikhail Prokohorov went on Bloomberg television and, during an interview in Moscow, talked about what his team needed to win a title.

“One more good player, and we need time to make a really strong team,” Prokhorov said. “If we have a great team spirit, great passion, we can beat anyone in the league. We are not underdogs, that’s for sure.”

It will be somewhat of a challenge as the team is well above the salary cap after last year’s summer spending spree cost them $330 million, but in keeping with his good-natured personality interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo addressed the topic with a light-hearted sentiment.

“That is an astute statement,” Carlesimo said. “Having said that, I love the 15 players that we have, and next year — [NBA public relations man] Tim [Frank] is it all right to go with that? — the NBA is expanding to 16, so it won’t impact any of the guys currently on the roster. So Mikhail’s right and I love all of our players now.”

Carlesimo desires improved defense

The Nets could not have not played much better than they did in Game 1 but in the critical mind of an NBA head coach, there is always something that can improve.

For Carlesimo, that something is defense. The Nets won by 17 but gave up 54 points after halftime as Chicago shot 60 percent and turned it over just three times in the final 24 minutes.

The Nets held the Bulls to 35 points and 36.6 percent shooting (15-of-41) in the opening 24 minutes.

“It’s never a challenge for coaches to find things to be critical of or too work on,” Carlesimo said. “So we spent time and more important Rio [assistant coach Mario Ellie] and Popeye [assistant coach Popeye Jones] and Patrick [assistant coach Patrick Spurgin] and Dougie [assistant coach Doug Overton] broke it down. We had a lot of things that we can do better but if we can take care of the ball the way we did the other night and if we can shoot it the way we did the other night, that take cures a lot of other execution mistakes and things we didn’t do well.”

Thibodeau looks to Hamilton

Richard Hamilton played just 80 minutes after Feb. 28 due to a back injury and struggled to regain his rhythm in limited action.

The same thing afflicted Hamilton in Game 1 as he took just two shots and saw just over seven minutes.

“A big part of his game is timing, rhythm, catch and shoot,” Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We just have to be patient. Hopefully as time goes on, he gets healthy.”

Thibodeau no stranger to serious injuries

Thibodeau was an assistant in Houston when Yao Ming was frequently hurt. He was also in Boston when Kevin Garnett suffered a serious injury right after the All-Star break.

And if those two and the current Derrick Rose knee situation is not enough experience in this department, Thibodeau also was an assistant in New York in 1997-98 when the Knicks won 43 games despite not having Patrick Ewing for the final 66 games after he broke his wrist in a game at Milwaukee on Dec. 21, 1997.

Rose continued his usual routine in pregame warm-ups of shooting from various spots on the court but did not suit up.

“That experience taught me it’s the right thing to do,” Thibodeau said. “If Derrick can come back, we want him back.”

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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No matter how many shots he took in practice and pregame warm-ups over the course of six months, shots just weren’t falling for Gerald Wallace.

In Game 1 of the playoffs, it was a different story, as Wallace made his first five shots and scored 14 points. After a regular season that saw him average 7.7 points per game and shoot 39.7 percent, Wallace forgot about that with an offensive performance that was one of his best as a Net.

After showing a reluctance to shoot because of confidence issues, even during Monday’s win over Washington when he was the only starter to play, Wallace showed a more aggressive side with his offense.

“My main thing was to be more aggressive, put more pressure on their defense [and] get in situations where they’ve got to guard,” Wallace said. “They probably didn’t see that in the first four games we played them. It’s probably something new to them. It forced them to do something they didn’t want to do defensively.”

His first shot in Game 1 against the Bulls was a driving finger roll in the first quarter, a transition basket that came after he intercepted a pass from Richard Hamilton. His second shot was a put-back layup off a Brook Lopez miss. That was followed by another transition layup just before halftime and his final two shots were a 3-pointer and another layup.

Wallace made five shots for the first time since going 5-for-12 in Portland on March 27. It also was the ninth time Wallace made five shots, though only three of those games occurred after Dec. 14.

“I am just playing right now,” Wallace said. “This is a totally different season, so I am out here enjoying myself, just playing and trying to have fun right now. You know I am not ready to go home right now, so my main thing is to leave it all out on the court.”

However, even if Wallace did not produce offensively, his aggressiveness on defense would have been sufficient. Wallace had two blocked shots and a highlight moment when he leapt and caught the ball after it left Jimmy Butler’s hand.

If the category of mid-air steals existed, it would have gone as that. Instead it was a blocked shot. It was the defense that stood out for interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo, especially after watching him hold Luol Deng to 3-for-11 shooting.

“He could’ve had zero points and been one of our two or three best players,” Carlesimo said.

“That’s what we need him to do,” Lopez said. “That’s what we know he’s capable of. He’s always going to be an energy guy and when he’s playing like that, he takes us to another level.”

Another level of play was on display Saturday night and although the rigors of a long playoff game made Wallace tired, it was the good kind of tired.

“I’m tired right now,” Wallace said. “That’s how you’re supposed to feel after a playoff game — tired, sore.”

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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The Nets current roster has 270 games of playoff experience ranging. The most significant player without any experience is center Brook Lopez.

Saturday is a culmination of long process that followed the transition from the Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson years to the move from New Jersey.

Along the way, he played every game for a team that lost its first 16 games and 70 overall in 2009-2010. He has heard his name mentioned way too many times for anyone to count in rumors about Dwight Howard.

Other events include playing in three different zip codes (Newark, N.J., East Rutherford, N.J. and Brooklyn) hearing all about the future in Brooklyn and learning about the future home where he would become an All-Star for the first time.

“It’s really been an amazing journey,” Lopez said. “It’s very surreal to think of the power point presentations they’d show us when the management would come in and show us renderings of the Barclays Center and all the those factoids about how big Brooklyn is and all that stuff and everything.

“I can’t wait,” Lopez said. “I’ve been very anxious, waiting for it while playing through these last few games. And now that it’s on the horizon, I’m very excited about it.”

Lopez has a lot to do with why the borough will be hosting its first postseason game since Game 7 of the 1956 World Series. His consistent production is among the reasons why the Nets are hosting their first playoff game since May 18, 2007.

“He’s had an All-Star year,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “He’s shooting the ball well from the perimeter, he’s finishing inside and he’s getting to the free-throw line. He’s night and day better defensively, in terms of the way he protects the rim.”

So do his teammates think he’ll be ready to step up for the biggest games of his career?

“Hell yeah,” Reggie Evans said.

Evans has been in the league for 11 years and played with big men such as Blake Griffin, but what he sees from Lopez is a work ethic and focus that makes the Nets fully trust their 2008 first-round pick.

“Brook is showing you everything,” Evans said after Thursday’s practice. “Brook’s a whole different person and when I say that, that’s in a good way. Nobody is stopping him. The only person that can stop Brook is Brook, that’s it. Brook is on a mission.

“His focus is there. He’s there early on game day. His focus in practice is there. His determination is there. So he’s my least concern in being ready. I’ve been kind of prepping him like, ‘Hey man, the atmosphere is going to be different.’ But he ain’t showing me no signs like he’s not ready. He’s ready to step up to the plate.”

Nets playing their best

New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin is fond of saying you want to be playing your best entering the playoffs. Judging by how the Nets finished the regular season, it seems that they are adhering to Coughlin’s viewpoint.

The Nets won six of their last seven games after losing by two to Chicago on April 4. The loss was one of just six the Nets had in their last 18 games.

“I think we’ve been playing pretty good,” Johnson said. “The ball has been moving great. Guys have been on the same page. At this time of the year when you’re clicking and jelling and that cohesiveness is there, it’s perfect timing for us. So we take some of this momentum into the postseason and try to make something happen.”

In 2006, the Nets won 49 games, the same amount as this year. To reach that point, they peaked in March with a 14-game winning streak and 17 wins in their last 22 games.

There was not one moment where everything seemed to click but if there is one key reason it is health.

Deron Williams has been a different player since taking the week before the All-Star break off to rest his ankles. Joe Johnson has better lift in his heel and during the four-game winning streak that locked up the fourth seed, he shot 27-for-58 (46.5 percent).

“I think everybody is semi-healthy now,” Williams said. “And for the first time in a long time, we have everybody at full strength. So, we are definitely excited about that and feel confident that when we are playing at our highest level, we are tough to beat.”

Williams is so healthy that although the Bulls like to slow things down, he said he plans on attempting to push the pace whenever possible.

“We want to get up and down,” he said. “I think we have to. We can’t just let them set up their defense. If we let them get into a half court game, it’s going to be tough.”

Looking back at Chicago

The Nets and Bulls played four games this season. If you take anything from the regular season into the playoffs, Chicago won three of those four.

But the four games against the Bulls were decided by a combined 21 points and the three losses by the Nets have differing characteristics.

“We’ve been right there and had opportunities,” Lopez said. “I think it could easily be 3-1 the other way. It’s going to be physical, but I think we’re ready for it.”

“That’s going to be a tough series,” Johnson said. “They’re a hard-nosed team, a blue collar team, hard-working and a great defensive team. So we got to be on our P’s and Q’s, hitting on all cylinders. In the playoffs you can’t take a possession off.”

Nobody knows if Derrick Rose will play and so far, the Nets have not practiced anything related to his presence.

“You’re not gonna simulate the things he does,” Carlesimo said. “He was arguably the best player in the league when he last played, but they play so much quicker when he’s on the floor and they’re so much more disruptive defensively. The things Derrick makes happen, you can’t simulate.”

New atmosphere

When the Dodgers were making six World Series appearances against the Yankees from 1947-56, the raucous atmosphere at Ebbets Field was highlighted by Hilda Chester’s cowbell and the Dodger “symphony band.”

The Barclays Center is located at the site where Walter O’Malley wanted to build his new stadium and on Saturday night, the Nets are hoping the atmosphere will be just as noisy, but in a different way. In keeping with the theme of black uniforms and black seats in the building, the team is marketing the playoffs by urging fans by calling it a “Blackout in Brooklyn.”

On the front page of their website is a picture of Williams with the words: “Hello Playoffs, Show Your Brooklyn Pride! Represent the Home Team by Wearing Black”

Since the last Nets home playoff game, the Bulls have hosted 17 games and won 11. In the last two years, the Bulls have been the top overall seed.

“Like us, it’s going to be a new experience for the people in the building,” Carlesimo said. “So I think that’s part of it. I think that in New York or Chicago or where they’ve had playoff games before, that experience will be evident. It’ll be evident when we get to the United Center.

“Our fans have been great. I think … it’ll be a fantastic atmosphere. I’ve said all along, we’ve got to give them a reason to make a noise.”

The Nets are also trying to keep the theme of black with their uniforms. They are trying to lobby the league to wear black home jerseys as opposed to the normal white teams wear on their home courts.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher throughout the playoffs.

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Before the Nets concluded their first regular season in Brooklyn, rookie Tyshawn Taylor took the microphone and addressed the crowd. After thanking them for their support, Taylor said the team planned on taking care of business in the postseason.

The first order of business is now beating the Bulls.

While the Nets closed out the regular season with a 103-99 victory over the Pistons, they learned their first playoff opponent in six years will be the Bulls with Game 1 at the Barclays Center on Saturday night.

During the regular season, Brooklyn dropped three of four meetings to the Bulls. The last was a 92-90 setback two weeks ago in Brooklyn but since that point the Nets won six out of seven to reach 49 wins while Chicago split its final eight games and finished 45-37.

“They’re an excellent team,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “They beat us three out of four. They’re really experienced. They’re an excellent defensive team, an excellent defensive team. It’s going to be a helluva challenge.”

The Nets will oppose the Bulls for the second time in the postseason. The previous instance was as an eight seed in 1998, which resulted in a three-game sweep for the Bulls en route to their sixth championship with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and head coach Phil Jackson.

“It’s going to be fun,” center Brook Lopez said. “They’re a physical team, a very aggressive team. We’ll have to try to match their intensity, but I think we’ve got the right group of guys, the right passion, the right drive and we’ll be all right.”

“I’m excited about being back in the playoffs after not being there the last couple of years,” point guard Deron Williams said. “I’m ready to go.”

On Monday, it appeared Atlanta was the likely opponent. Atlanta had a half-game lead over Chicago but failed to secure that matchup with the Nets by getting blown out in Toronto Tuesday.

Atlanta seemed to concede the fifth spot by resting its starting lineup and then lost by six by against the Knicks, who also sat several key players. Chicago played all of its key players and started quickly before holding off the Wizards, a result that ultimately proved irrelevant since the Hawks lost.

The Nets did not pull the same rest tactic as the Hawks. They did that on Monday but chose to limit the minutes of Williams, Lopez and Joe Johnson, who saw 21 minutes apiece and combined on 13-for-28 shooting.

“The main thing was to get a good run for the guys who didn’t play the other day,” Carlesimo said. “They all got 20 minutes.”

The trio played the entire first quarter when the Nets sprinted out to an 11-point lead. They sat for the whole second quarter as the lead increased to 60-48 and returned for most of the third quarter as the lead expanded to 83-66.

The alternating quarters for the starters was part of the plan to get those players a sweat during a run of full-contact, full-court action. Had they sat for a second straight game, they would have gone nearly a week without playing a regular game and with only a few practices.

Lopez, who will be attempting to provide offense against Chicago big men Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah, led the Nets with 20 points and nine rebounds. Johnson had 10 and Williams, who may or may not be opposing Derrick Rose, had eight points and six assists.

The reserves were led by Andray Blatche, who scored 15 points, including his third 3-pointer of the season. Kris Humphries added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Lawrence Frank is closing out a second losing season in Detroit and considers Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo a good friend he would trust for restaurant advice. He also considers Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau a good friend and has a relationship with Atlanta head coach Larry Drew from having him on his coaching staff with the Nets.

So although Frank seemed happy for the success of the team which gave him his start as an NBA head coach nine years ago, he’s not about to go dispensing complex scouting tips about the Hawks or Bulls.

“I love P.J. I’m going to ask first [for a] good restaurant because P.J’s going to hammer that one down,” Frank said. “But yeah, the thing is as coaches it’s always dicey because P.J.’s a good friend. Potentially they could play Chicago and Tom is a very, very good friend of mine. Potentially they could play Atlanta and Larry Drew worked with me in New Jersey. So sometimes you just stay out of it.”

Even with Frank’s lack of advice, he still thinks highly of the team that employed him for nearly a decade, especially with how Deron Williams has played since the break.

“I think especially with the way Deron is playing post All-Star break, they’re going to be a very tough, tough team, especially because in the playoff game where it comes to a grinding halt, your ability to have guys who can make plays on their own [is big],” Frank said. “You have three in Deron, Joe and Brook and with a good supporting cast. And I think their bench has had some very good moments. So if those guys can play at a very high level, they’re going to be a tough out for anyone.”

Carlesimo has had the best start through 53 games of any of the 21 men to coach the franchise. He is also the first interim coach to lead the Nets to the postseason since Frank in 2004 with a team that had Kenyon Martin, Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson as its Top 3 players.

That team won the first 13 games after Frank took over in January 2004 and lost to the Pistons in a six-game Eastern Conference semifinal. The Nets were coming off back-to-back NBA finals appearances and the veteran Pistons of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace upset the so-called super team of Lakers with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Gary Payton and Karl Malone.

Frank made three more playoff appearances with the Nets while also coaching Vince Carter. His tenure with New Jersey ended after a 0-16 start in the 72-loss 2009-10 season.

Since leaving the Nets, Frank has taken over a rebuilding program with the Pistons, who are trying to end the season with five straight wins.

The Nets have had so much roster turnover since November 2009 that Brook Lopez is the only remaining player from the Frank years. Lopez was a second-year center when Frank was fired but even then he always saw the offensive potential that turned Lopez into a first-time All-Star this season.

“Brook’s been great,” Frank said. “Brook has always had really good offensive ability. He’s developed a really good back-to-basket game. He’s always been a good face up perimeter shooter and he’s got great hands. Now what he’s added is the defensive portion and that takes time. If you look at what he’s done in terms of blocking shots and his rebounding has been up from what they were last year and his character is off-the-charts high — great, great person.”

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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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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For the last five seasons, the last week of the season has been rendered meaningless as the Nets knew their next game would be a fall preseason game.

In their first year in Brooklyn, the last week of the season was rendered meaningless for the right reasons.

Starters sat but it wasn’t because of season-ending injuries. Instead, it was to give them rest for the next meaningful game which will take place this weekend when the Nets host Game 1 against the Hawks or Bulls as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Last night’s 106-101 victory over the 51-loss Wizards meant little in the big picture and was more about getting Gerald Wallace through a game without further injury and giving some reserves and non-rotation players some playing time.

Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez and Reggie Evans were among the six Nets to sit out. Veterans Keith Bogans and Jerry Stackhouse also rested.

That group of six watched as the Nets fielded a starting lineup of Kris Humphries, Andray Blatche, MarShon Brooks and C.J. Watson. They also watched as Tyshawn Taylor, Mirza Teletovic and Toko Shengalia received minutes.

Probably the most important thing for the Nets was making sure Wallace made it through the game in good shape after missing two games with a left leg contusion. The game seemed like an obvious one for Wallace to take a lot of shots but he did not take any in the first half. He scored two points while taking three shots in 23 minutes.

“I thought he looked good,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “He’s upset with Timmy [trainer Tim Walsh] and I that he didn’t play more. The whole point was to get him out, get him a little cardio work, make sure his foot was all right and hopefully he comes out of it well tomorrow and he can play some more minutes Wednesday. It was exactly what Timmy wanted and we were pleased.”

Wallace joined the rest of the regular starters on the bench midway through the third quarter and watched as the Nets began the fourth with Blatche, Watson, Shengelia, Kris Joseph and Humphries. They ended the game with Blatche, Shengelia, Joseph, Teletovic and Taylor on the floor.

Carlesimo said any healthy starter will play Wednesday in Detroit, though they won’t get their extended minutes.

Humphries led the Nets with 20 points and nine rebounds, his first 20-point game since April 16 of last season against Miami.

“We need Hump,” Carlesimo said. “We’re not going to be successful in the playoffs unless we get the Kris Humphries that we know where he can give us the defense, the offense, the boards and the whole thing. So it was a big step for him.”

Blatche also had 20, while Teletovic and Taylor added 14 apiece.

The Nets trailed by as many as 17 in the first half and never led until Shengelia’s fast-break layup with 4:57 remaining made it 95-94. After getting the crowd back in it, the Nets took the lead for good (103-101) when Blatche outmuscled former teammate Kevin Seraphin for a put-back layup with 55.5 seconds left.

“It’s really good that some guys got to play that normally don’t play and other guys got their minutes stretched out,” Carlesimo said. “We played hard. They dug a big hole early but we kept plugging and plugging.”

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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The fans at the Barclays Center were chanting “Reggie, Reggie” so often it sounded like Reggie Jackson when he homered on three straight pitches for the Yankees in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series.

Instead, those chants were reserved for rugged power forward Reggie Evans, who totaled 17 points and 24 rebounds, helping the Nets dominate the paint in a 104-83 rout of the 76ers.

“[It was] just people double-teaming Joe and double-teaming Deron and basically leaving me,” Evans said. “I got to do my best to try and give the team something. So that was just the main thing, the way the team was playing us.”

The Nets (45-32) further solidified their standing as the fourth seed, moving three games ahead of Chicago, which lost at home to Toronto Tuesday night. They have five games remaining before the season ends next Wednesday against Detroit.

“We got a lot of guys that have never been to the playoffs, so you got to have that mindset like every game is important, not only that but you got to take advantage of the home games and stuff like that,” Evans said. “So you’ve got to have that mindset like the playoffs are now and every possession is going to be tough offensively and defensively.”

Evans was among the primary reasons the Nets did not have to rely on Deron Williams and Joe Johnson to get things done offensively. He had a double-double by the end of the first quarter and had his 20th rebound halfway through the third quarter.

“Reggie has been great,” center Brook Lopez said. “It seems like a nightly routine. He has become so great at making a decision after he gets the offensive rebound, either to go back up strong or to find the open man.”

“Reggie has been playing unbelievable of late,” Johnson added. “He’s just very relentless going to the glass, offensively and defensively. He’s just making plays. He’s a guy that you don’t have to run a play for. So to have those kind of guys on your team, that’s big.”

It was Evans’ eighth double-double and fourth in the last seven games. He was also the first Net to have a double-double by the end of the first quarter and the first in the NBA since Dwight Howard on Feb. 8, 2012.

It was his ninth 20-rebound game of the season and not surprisingly the Nets have won eight of those.

Also helping the Nets dominate the paint by a 58-30 margin and outrebound Philadelphia, 67-34, was Lopez. Lopez had 29 points and 11 rebounds while making 13-of-22 shots. It was Lopez’s 11th double-double this season.

“They were aggressive,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “They were dominant inside. They contested shots and rebounded. They helped out on defense. They set a great tone for us.”

Those performances placed a diminished emphasis on Williams and Johnson which could prove important since the Nets start a three-game road trip Wednesday against the seventh-seeded Celtics in their first meeting since a disappointing Christmas Day loss at home.

“We put ourselves in a position where we hopefully lessen the impact of a back-to-back,” Carlesimo said. “We got at it tonight as well as you could considering we needed to win the game and I thought played very efficiently which was really good to see.”

Johnson, who was a game-time decision with a sore left heel, had 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting in 23 minutes. Williams, who had 62 points in his previous two games, did not score until early in the third quarter and finished with 11 points — all in the third — while playing 27 minutes.

The Nets began seizing control over the final eight minutes of the second quarter. After Philadelphia was within 36-31 with 8:05 to play, the Nets closed out the half by outscoring the Sixers 20-7.

Unlike several other previous games, the Nets didn’t let up in the third. They steadily increased the lead and held a comfortable 23-point cushion entering the fourth.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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A week ago, Jay-Z announced he was creating Roc Nation, a sports agency group, and Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano would be the first client.

On Tuesday, a report surfaced indicating the Brooklyn-born rapper would be selling his small share of the Nets, a team he helped rebrand following the move from New Jersey last year.

According to a report by Yahoo Sports, Jay-Z will be selling his 0.067 share, or 1/15th interest, in the team that he was an original investor in along with Bruce Ratner. Jay-Z would need to sell his share in the team if he wants to begin representing NBA players for Roc Nation as speculated.

“I would say he had an enormous amount to do with the rebranding of the team,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said before Tuesday night’s game with Philadelphia. “I’m not close to it at all, but it’s what I heard and read and saw he was huge. You’d be hard to overstate what he was to the rebranding, so that would be disappointing.”

Since his involvement with the Nets began, Jay-Z has been one of the symbols of the team in Brooklyn along with Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. He opened the building with a concert in late September and has attended several games.

According to Forbes Magazine, the Nets have a value of $530 million and, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Jay-Z’s share is worth roughly $350,000.

Daily Joe Johnson watch

Joe Johnson has missed 18 of his last 27 shots in his last two games after missing the previous five with a sore left heel.

The team announced he was a game-time decision earlier Tuesday but they decided to play him with the hopes of managing his minutes to prevent further injury.

The Nets will play six games over the final nine days of the season but are one of six playoff teams facing the same situaion, which is why health is a priority.

“I think we’re gonna look at other people perhaps a bit more or not go big, big minutes at least in back-to-backs,” Carlesimo said to reporters at the morning shootaround. “If we go big minutes tonight, we’re probably not going to go big minutes tomorrow. It would be great if we could get through tonight and have something in the tank for tomorrow, but I really think we’ve gotta go day-to-day. I’m looking at it very cautiously and I’m very concerned with what we have left.”

Nets honor Ebbets Field

Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of the first game played at Ebbets Field, which was located in neighboring Flatbush on Bedford Avenue and before the game the Nets celebrated the occasion by displaying the 1955 World Championship banner on the court before the game.

Coincidently, the Dodgers also opened Ebbets Field with a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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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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Not including the Nets’ current two-week absence from the Barclays Center due to the presence of the circus, there have been 30 road trips in the NBA consisting of at least five games.

During those trips, teams have posted winning records just seven times and not surprisingly the best performances have been achieved by NBA elite such as Miami and San Antonio. Miami swept a five-game road trip in mid-March during its 27-game winning streak while San Antonio won seven of nine during its annual rodeo trip that was broken up by the All-Star break.

The Nets have a chance to enter that minority with a win Wednesday night in Cleveland, a game that occurs the night before a home game with Chicago in a potential battle for home-court advantage in a No. 4 vs. No. 5 postseason matchup.

So far, the trip has gone mostly well with four wins in seven games. The Nets won games against sub-500 competition in Detroit and Phoenix and pulled off victories in Dallas and Portland, two teams with losing records but near the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The losses were a close game to the Clippers, a blowout in Denver and in the second night of a back-to-back in Utah. That sent the trip from 4-1 to 4-3 which is still decent, but still slightly disappointing for the Nets.

“We were above .500,” Deron Williams said after the team made a brief stop in East Rutherford, N.J. for practice Tuesday. “We lost to three playoff teams and two of the best home teams that there are in the game, so those are two hard games to win at the end of a road trip. But we wish we would have finished a little bit better.”

“We want to finish on an upswing and the seven games we played on the trip, we didn’t finish on an upswing,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “We were on a pretty good upswing and we kind of took a couple steps back.”

When the team played at the Meadowlands, the lengthy road trips usually happened three times a season but rarely lasted more than a week. It appears this type of trip will happen again in future seasons but the hope is it will include more Eastern Conference opponents.

“Hopefully, in the future there will be more Eastern games and it will be a better breakdown during the trip so you don’t literally pack up and head out for two weeks,” Carlesimo said. “That’s not the ideal situation, especially this time of the year.

It also wasn’t ideal because the night the trip began with a blowout win in Detroit the Knicks snapped a four-game losing streak in Utah. That left the Nets one game out of first place and they haven’t been able to gain any ground because the Knicks have won eight in a row.

Johnson practices, still questionable

Joe Johnson described the feeling in his sore left heel and right quad as “great.” However, the combination of playing the Bulls on Thursday and how he feels Wednesday morning in Cleveland may factor into if he actually suits up.

“I know it’s a back-to-back,” Johnson said. “So it’s kind of, ‘pick what game you want to play basically,’ so we’ll see.”

Johnson tested his pain threshold by participating in every drill in practice. That included scrimmaging with teammates and followed the usual procedure of ice and rest.

The Nets have gone 2-2 during Johnson’s four-game absence. In the three games he has played on the trip, Johnson has shot 13-of-44 (29.5 percent) and since returning from the initial three-game absence due to a sore heel in late-February, he is shooting 42.5 percent while averaging 13.3 points.

Joseph signs 10-day contract

Watching some of former Syracuse teammates make the Final Four wasn’t the only good news Kris Joseph received in the last few days. The other was finding out the Nets signed him to a 10-day contract Tuesday.

Joseph was a second-round pick of the Celtics last June and spent most of this season in the NBDL. He was acquired by the Nets’ D-League affiliate in Springfield on Feb. 11 and averaged 19 points while starting 15 games that he said featured an improved performance on 3-pointers.

“In college I shot the ball pretty decently and the question was transitioning from the college three to the NBA three,” Joseph said. “When I was in Boston in the limited minutes I didn’t shoot a lot of threes. In Maine [with Boston's NBDL team] I did and I didn’t shoot a high percentage but once I got to Springfield I was shooting in the high-40s [percent] and I think that’s the part of my game that has improved the most.”

Joseph’s best showing from behind the arc was a 5-for-5 night on March 19 against Erie and he ended his latest stint by shooting 13-for-24 on 3-pointers over his last five games.

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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There were missed layups, occasional airballs, various turnovers and a lack of continuity on both ends for the Nets.

And now the Nets head out on an eight-game road trip off a disappointing 105-93 loss to the Hawks.

“You say that [it's a missed opportunity],” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “But this is what we are. This is what we did. That would imply that because we had a better record because we had won two of the three against them that we should win this. It was a game that we had an opportunity to step up and establish what we are and this is what we are. We have to work harder.

“We weren’t able to meet the challenge tonight. So we have to work harder. We have to play a lot better and the challenges aren’t going to get easier away from home.”

The Nets will not return to the Barclays Center until they face Chicago on April 4 in a nationally televised game. In between home games, they will face five opponents jockeying for playoff position in the Western Conference.

They will have a plane ride to Detroit to lament a missed opportunity against a team that they would have won the head-to-head tiebreaker with had they won last night.

“Definitely,” Deron Williams said when asked if it was a huge opportunity that slipped away. “They played like it was and we didn’t.”

“It was very frustrating,” Joe Johnson added. “It was almost as if we didn’t know the significance of this game. Regardless of who’s playing however many minutes, we need to get a win and now we have to go on the road and we can’t leave here without a win.”

Gerald Wallace felt focus was the issue during the fourth quarter when Atlanta raced past them by scoring 34 points.

“We weren’t ready to play,” Wallace said. “We all understand what’s at stake. We just weren’t ready to play. They came [here] like they wanted the game and we came like we were already on the road.”

The Nets were atrocious in their final quarter at home before starting the 17-day trip. They led 73-71 going into the period but were blasted by a 25-10 margin in the opening 7:37. The defense allowed the Hawks to make 11 of their first 13 shots in the quarter while the offense missed seven of its first 10.

The Nets never led after surrendering the lead on a Dahntay Jones alley-oop dunk 29 seconds in. They were still lurking after Mirza Teletovic’s 3-pointer with 7:32 to play made it a four-point game but they did not get another basket for another 3 1/2 minutes. By then Atlanta was on the way to wrapping it up and the Nets were on their way to getting booed by segments of the crowd.

The Hawks scored eight straight points on an open 3-pointer by Josh Smith, a layup and free throw by Jones and a wild jump shot by Al Horford as the shot clock wound down as the Hawks took a 96-83 lead with 4:23 to play.

Instead of moving within percentage points of the Knicks in the Atlantic, the Nets turned in a dud. Their three stars, Williams, Brook Lopez and Johnson, were mostly ineffective despite combining for 53 points.

Williams had 18 points and eight assists but had four turnovers. Johnson also had 18 points but scored just five in the second half. Lopez had 17 points but needed 19 shots and finished 7-of-19.

“I think we can put a lot of it on ourselves, particularly me,” Lopez said. “They did very well in the paint tonight and I think that was the game right there.”

The most effective Net was Reggie Evans, who had 14 points and 22 rebounds. He shot 6-of-7 while the rest of the team shot 30-of-79.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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Moving closer to the Knicks may or may not be a big deal. It depends who you ask.

The Nets and Knicks were last tied for first place after both teams won on Nov. 30 and were 11-4.

Last night, the Nets had a chance to move into a virtual tie with the Knicks, but key figures within the organization seemed to have different viewpoints on it.

Approximately an hour before last night’s game, team CEO Brett Yormark used twitter to express his anticipation about what possibly could happen should the Nets win.

He tweeted from his account @brettyormark the following, “excited about tonights nets game. Chance to be tied for division lead”.

That came shortly after interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo dismissed the possibility, since the teams have not played the same amount of games.

“No,” Carlesimo said when asked if it would mean anything. “Secondly, we’re not tied for the division lead. I told you guys today. I don’t know how you guys come up with this nonsense. They have two — they had two less losses than we do. So we’re not tied with them when they have one less loss. I don’t care what the numbers say. You can’t be tied with somebody when you have one more loss than they do. It’s meaningless.”

Should the Nets beat Atlanta they will be 39-27, giving them a winning percentage of .590. That would give them more win than the Knicks, but their crossriver rival still has a winning percentage of .594.

The difference between being ahead in the Atlantic currently means a possible first-round series with Boston or Chicago. Presently, the division winner would get the Celtics, who are 2-3 against the two teams, while the runner-up would get the Bulls, who are 5-1 against the Nets and Knicks.

The teams will not have the same amount of games played until April 2 when they both have played 73 games after the Knicks visit Miami. The next night the Nets conclude their eight-game road trip in Cleveland.

Johnson’s minutes limited

Joe Johnson has played between 30 and 37 minutes in six games since returning from a sore left heel and even though he has had since last Monday between full-contact games, his minutes are still going to be limited.

Johnson practiced fully Saturday and again in shootaround before the game against the Hawks.

“I always ask and they say I’m not, but I know I am,” he told reporters of the minutes limit.

Johnson has averaged just 13.7 points per game on 33.3 percent shooting in three games this season against Atlanta, which traded him to the Nets in the offseason.

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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