HOUSTON – Help is near for the Nets, but they insist the impending return of Richard Jefferson cannot be viewed as the cavalry coming to the rescue.
Jefferson went through the Nets’ practice yesterday, working in halfcourt sets with some shooting. He ran the stairs – always a fun exercise – and lifted weights. Jefferson, who underwent right ankle surgery on Jan. 22, is listed as “out” for tonight against the Rockets but could see his first live action since Jan. 20 tomorrow in San Antonio. Jefferson likely had a tougher workout in Dallas on Wednesday when he played one-on-one games against four different teammates.
“It feels better. It’s still sore. It’s a process. It’s getting there, slowly but surely,” Jefferson said before practice, noting his goal is “basically to be able to do stuff without any kind of pain or twinges or weakness. I was able to dunk just fine. I was able to shoot. Just on a consistent basis, to do things without pain.
“For eight months, [I pushed] through the soreness, injecting my body with different things to get through the soreness,” said Jefferson.
He said he can accept the expected pain and soreness but “it depends on the degree. I’ve been playing hurt. What would have been the point of the surgery if I was going to come back and be playing with pain?”
And soreness isn’t necessarily a sign “the joint is still hurt, it means you haven’t used it,” Jefferson explained.
So the Nets await Jefferson in uniform on the court. A return on this trip is probable.
“We’ve said that from the beginning that we wouldn’t have brought him on the trip if we didn’t think there was a chance,” coach Lawrence Frank said.
Realistic playoff hopes are alive – the Nets trailed Orlando by one-half game before the Magic played Chicago last night. The Nets were assured of staying ninth, if only by a percentage point if Orlando lost, by one game if Orlando won. With Indiana losing seven straight, the Nets are 1? games out of seventh, so it would be nice to have a conditioned Jefferson for the final run.
“It’s very important that we don’t put this all on Richard,” said Frank. “We were . . . almost back to .500 without him. We can’t say, ‘Richard’s here.’ It doesn’t work like that. . . . Obviously Richard is an outstanding all-around player [but] it’s not going to happen like that. There’s going to be a transition.”
Jefferson said the same, that some feel all will be well with him.
“I sense that, but we’re a team,” said Jefferson, who was averaging 16.1 points when he went out. “It’s more you add me to the team.”
Adding the team’s third best scorer, best finisher and best individual defender certainly won’t hurt.
“If you add me to the mix and these guys play at that level [they have], then you have a chance to win some games,” Jefferson said. “[But] it’s not all of a sudden I’ll come back and I’ll be scoring 20 points again. It takes a little bit of time to get back into that rhythm.”
Take all the time you want. Up to about two hours. The Nets have not flatlined, but there are dangerous vital signs. Still, Jefferson largely stayed optimistic.
“We will win on this trip, I’m very confident of that,” said Jefferson, one of five Nets (Nenad Krstic, Cliff Robinson, Eddie House, Josh Boone, Hassan Adams) whose season was shortened by surgery. “I’d like to believe we’ll win more than one on this trip. We’re going to have to go out there and try to do it.”