Jamaal Magloire went from confused to grateful in about 12 hours.
Magloire, in the morning, admitted confusion about his playing time in coach Lawrence Frank’s big-man rotation. Through four games, he averaged 12 minutes. He just felt he could do more with more time. Last night, he got more time. Last night, he did more – 12 rebounds in 28 minutes.
“Jamaal Magloire injected the game with some energy and passion,” Frank said after the Nets’ 87-85 victory over Washington.
Magloire said he was grateful for the chance.
“I’d like to thank coach for letting me in the game, letting me find a groove, letting me get some reps up and down the court. I’m not sure how much I played but by far it was the most this season,” Magloire said.
Which proved his initial point about lack of minutes: “It is confusing because I worked extremely hard in the summertime and throughout training camp. I’m sort of mind-boggled.”
Frank said the big-man rotation is a work in progress: “It’s going to be something that’s going to work itself out. Frank said. “We’re not going to have all the answers. It’s going to take a good month to figure it out.”
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Richard Jefferson couldn’t resist. After Vince Carter had his best offensive game – 24 points, 6-of-13 shooting, Jefferson said, jokingly: “I congratulated him on joining us for the 2007-2008 season. Season opener for Vince Carter. . . . He was big for us. He hit some big shots for us and made some good defensive plays and when he gets going . . . “
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Jefferson moved past Chris Morris (6,762) and into fifth place on the Nets all-time scoring list with a jumper at 7:47 of the third quarter. . . . Josh Boone turned his right ankle at practice Wednesday and did not play, though he was dressed. . . . Nenad Krstic said he is at 75-80 percent of being back to his pre-torn ACL days and is pleased with his progress. “In August, I didn’t even know if I would be ready for the first game of the season, or first month really,” Krstic said. “Actually, I’m happy. Just playing at this point is good.” . . . It was the Nets first rally from a 20-point deficit since Feb. 24, 2002. . . . The Wizards shot .397. That means 4-of-5 Nets foes have shot under .400.