NET NOTES
CHICAGO – Lucious Harris’ scoring was up again. His rebounds were power-forward worthy. But it was leadership that set Harris apart for the Nets last night.
“Lucious Harris was tremendous. He gave us a phenomenal effort. I can’t say enough good things about what Lucious did,” Lawrence Frank said after Harris scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while manning the point in the Nets’ 84-81 victory over the Bulls, their first win since Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin went out injured. “Lucious is one of our leaders whether we’re whole or not.”
Harris, who said the adjustment to passing point from shooting guard is as much mental as anything else, emphasized the importance of the victory.
“Definitely. We felt we should have won [against Dallas, a 101-98 loss Sunday]. We wanted to get a win and get over the hump of winning a game without [Kidd and Martin]. For us, mentally, that’s going to help us out,” said Harris, who scored 21 against the Mavericks. “We’re just trying to hold it down until they get back. Hopefully it will be sooner [rather] than later.”
* Zoran Planinic is the first to admit he’s had chances, he just hasn’t utilized them.
“I got my chances, I didn’t do so good. So that is the reality,” said Planinic, who did not play last night (coach’s decision) and totaled 16 minutes in the Nets’ past nine games. “Some games I feel comfortable, some games I feel lost. In time, I will have every game played the same way.”
How low Planinic slipped is seen by the Nets signing well-traveled point guard Anthony Goldwire to a 10-day contract Monday. After two days, Goldwire entered last night instead of Planinic, summoned with :52.7 left in the first half.
* Martin said, “I’m not playing any time this week,” and added that his tendinitis-stricken left knee felt “a little better” since he began resting it last week. “I’m just trying to get some movement in it so it don’t get too stiff,” he said.