#Why Nets aren’t panicking after first NBA restart stinker

The Nets didn’t panic over their shoddy scrimmage debut. They instead saw it as a necessary first step.

The idea of Wednesday’s 31-point loss to the Pelicans was to begin to get comfortable with one another and work out the kinks. The experience, coach Jacque Vaughn said, was the most important thing. The results don’t matter until Friday, when the season restarts against the Magic.

But that doesn’t mean the Nets were pleased with the performance. They are hoping for much better Saturday against the Spurs at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.

“You don’t ever step on the court with the idea of going in and losing. Every time we step on the court, it’s with one goal in mind,” said Tyler Johnson, one of many new Nets. “We take everything into consideration. We had a lot of guys who were out, but we don’t make excuses for it. [Saturday] we’re looking to rebound a little from the other night.”

Considering how different the Nets roster is than it was in March, when they had won four of their last five games before the season was postponed, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise they struggled so much against New Orleans. The roster is full of newcomers. It showed. The Nets shot just 35.2 percent from the field against the Pelicans, with 14 assists and 21 turnovers, and were overwhelmed despite the absence of Zion Williamson.

“It’s guys who haven’t really played a lot of minutes together, but at the same time, we don’t have time to sit back and feel sorry for ourselves,” said Johnson, a 6-foot-4 guard who averaged 5.7 points in 31 games with the Suns this year. “These games are coming up soon, and it’s up to us to put ourselves in position to be successful moving forward.”

The team at Vaughn’s disposal will be slightly different against the Spurs. Jamal Crawford will be held out while Joe Harris, Justin Anderson and Johnson will play. Harris’ presence should at least help the offense and much-needed game action for Anderson and Johnson will be provided.

Vaughn took the glass half-full approach. He felt ball movement and pace were strong in the first half. There were communication problems on defense — not unexpected, considering the layoff and fresh faces on the team.

“We treated it just like a scrimmage,” he said. “The ideals of those for is, we’ll keep it in perspective that we came out with healthy bodies, guys were able to see how their legs were feeling, to be back on the court again so not overcomplicating it at all.”

But there isn’t much time to get it right. Soon, there will be games that count.

“The playoffs are coming, whether you like it or not,” Johnson said. “[In a few weeks], whatever it is, we’re going to be playing high intensity basketball.”