NET NOTES
For the present, Chris Childs is in and Anthony Johnson is out of Byron Scott’s rotation. And Johnson admits he is “very disappointed” – stopping short of being ticked off – at being left behind.
“We lost to Orlando and Memphis and then all of a sudden, I’m not playing,” said Johnson, who was brought back when Childs was suspended in preseason for being out of shape. “It’s just his [Scott’s] decision to go a different route. It’s just something I have to deal with.
“I am very disappointed because I feel like I’ve been helping the team out but the past couple of games we’ve just not been shooting the ball well. No matter who you have out there, if guys aren’t making shots things are not going to go smoothly,” added Johnson, who did not play in yesterday’s 90-83 loss to the Sixers (Childs got six minutes). “I don’t feel my intensity, as far as playing defense and taking care of the ball, vanished. That’s all I can really say.”
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Sixer center Todd MacCulloch, the ex-Net, sat his fourth straight game battling a nerve disorder that affects his hands and feet.
He admits concerns for his career. “A little bit. It’s just not responding too well. But hopefully, everything will work out in the long run,” MacCulloch said.
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The Sixers were without Aaron McKie (shoulder) . . . Philly had 20 second-chance points and beat the Nets in fastbreak points, 14-10.
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Keith Van Horn on all the rumors concerning an impending trade involving him: “When the team was struggling the way we were, especially after the start we had, you’re going to have rumors like that. I understand that. That’s part of the business.”
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Larry Brown called the Sixers’ triumph “the most satisfying win of the year so far . . . this is as big a win as you could have.” . . . The game was the Nets’ fifth sellout of the season.
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While late March or early April is a generally proposed date, Dikembe Mutombo hopes he can be back at least “a month” before the playoffs, which would mean a mid- to late-March return.
“I’m making good progress,” Mutombo said of his surgically-repaired wrist. “I do the bike, treadmill. I’m in the gym three, four hours a day. It’s more cardio. I’m burning my lungs and trying to get my legs strong. I’m shooting. Shooting with my left hand. I’m happy with the progress. They’re happy with the progress.”