Nets get ‘Bull’-ied in Windy City

Lopez, Johnson, Teletovic Sit as Brooklyn Loses Third Straight

December 11, 2014 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Kevin Garnett dodged a broken left foot but Brooklyn couldn’t avoid getting run over by the Bulls in Chicago on Wednesday night. AP photos

Share this:

The only positive news that came out of Brooklyn’s latest loss was a test that came back negative.

With starting center Brook Lopez (back), All-Star shooting guard Joe Johnson (flu) and forward Mirza Teletovic (hip) absent due to injury or illness, the slumping Nets could ill-afford another ailing player following Wednesday night’s 105-80 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls in front of a United Center crowd of 21,646.

So when starting power forward Kevin Garnett went down with an apparent left-foot injury during the fourth quarter of the Nets’ third consecutive defeat, Brooklyn head coach Lionel Hollins had to be wondering if he’d lost his rejuvenated 20-year veteran as well.

Fortunately for the Nets, who dropped a season-high four games below .500 with Wednesday’s loss, X-rays on Garnett’s foot came back negative, as did the reviews for Brooklyn’s latest porous effort.

“It’s a work in progress,” Garnett admitted after scoring 13 points, grabbing seven rebounds and picking up a pair of steals during the Nets’ second blowout loss to Chicago in 10 days.

”We’ve got to continue to work,” added Garnett, who will likely be needed to return to action Friday night when the shorthanded Nets try to end their current slide against the hapless Philadelphia 76ers at the Barclays Center. “It doesn’t help that guys are out of the lineup so we’ve all got to continue to come in here, continue to work, and try to get better.”

Deron Williams scored 17 points and handed out five assists, Alan Anderson added 12 points and Jerome Jordan finished with 10 points off the bench for the Nets, who shot a dismal 33 percent from the field, including a horrific 3-of-14 performance from 3-point range.

“They’re better than us. It’s as simple as that,” Hollins confessed after watching Derrick Rose lead six Chicago players in double figures with 23 points.

Better, and much healthier, even without Poly Prep alum and reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah, who sat out Wednesday’s contest with an ankle injury.

Brooklyn did run with the Bulls until halftime, forging a 51-51 tie at intermission before Chicago upped its defensive game following the break.

A 15-0 surge by the Bulls in the fourth quarter quelled any comeback hopes for the Nets, who hope to at least have Johnson back against the Sixers Friday in Downtown Brooklyn.

”They turned up their defense and they put on a block party,” Hollins lamented after falling to 8-12 in his first season at the helm.

After hosting Philadelphia, the Nets will visit Charlotte on Saturday.

* * *

The struggling Nets have begun to reshape their roster and scale back their NBA-leading payroll, according to Yahoo! Sports.

The site reported Thursday that Brooklyn completed a trade with Philadelphia that sent seldom-used power forward Andrei Kirilenko and guard Jorge Gutierrez to the Sixers for forward Brandon Davies and a 2020 second-round pick as well as future draft considerations.

Kirilenko never got much of a look under Hollins, and the Russian veteran has been dealing with family issues that have made it difficult for him to travel with the Nets during the early stages of this season.

The Nets could shaved much as $10 or $11 million off their luxury tax and $93 million salary cap figure with the move, while Kirilenko is likely to be waived by Philadelphia upon completion of the deal.

Inactive for the past two weeks, Kirilenko logged only 36 minutes of playing time this season when he was available and healthy. In his first season with the Nets, Kirilenko averaged 5.0 points and 3.2 rebounds in 45 contests, missing nearly half the campaign with chronic back issues.

Nothing But Net: G Sergey Karasev got his first start as a Net Wednesday in Chicago, picking up six points and six rebounds in 31 minutes. … C Mason Plumlee, starting for the injured Lopez against the Bulls, had eight points and eight rebounds, but was limited to 28 minutes due to foul trouble and made only 3-of-11 shots from the field. … F Bojan Bogdanovic, replaced by Karasev in the starting five due to his recent struggles, went 0-for-5 from the floor and didn’t register a single point in 16 minutes off the bench.