The Nets don’t want to upset Miami on the eve of their first meeting with the Heat.

When questions were asked after practice today about what they thought of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade forming a super alliance, the Nets said they had no problem with it.

We’re not saying they’re not being honest. They’re all players or former players so they’re going to stick together. James, Wade and Bosh never did anything personally to the Nets except for opt against joining them when they had the chance in July.

The truth is who could blame them? Yes, Mikhail Prokhorov has more money than anyone I have ever met and yes the Nets are going to Brooklyn in a couple of years and Jay-Z is part owner and everything is looking up.

But players are about right now, getting paid right now and winning right now and that wasn’t going to happen with the Nets because Bosh never really was considering the Nets. He was going with Wade and ultimately James decided to do the same thing.

“I think it’s great for the NBA,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “It keeps our sport out in the forefront. In the offseason we probably had as much attention on our sport as any sport has ever had in any offseason.

“It’s up to those guys to go wherever they want to go. But this idea of some the backlash they’ve gotten because of the decision they made is pretty comical to me.”

Good answer because if James hears the Nets and their coach think he and Miami did something wrong things could pretty scary inside Prudential Center for this Halloween game.

The Nets don’t need to add any fuel to the Heat’s fire. Everyone saw what happened last night in their first meeting with the Magic, who openly criticized James and company for their decisions. Some of the back-and-forth included Stan Van Gundy and Pat Riley going after each other. The Heat, at home, handed Orlando a 26-point beating.

The Nets don’t need to do anything like that. Their chances against the Heat aren’t good going in, why add any additional motivation? You have to believe the Heat are motivated against everybody because of how much they were blasted, mostly James.

“It was something he felt he needed to do,” Devin Harris said.

Motivation shouldn’t be an issue for the Nets. They should be motivated every night, too.

They have a group of young guys, trying to prove themselves, trying to prove they deserve their contracts, trying to prove they deserve to start and play extended minutes.

As a team, the Nets looked good in the first two games. They had some self-inflicting-wound moments, but pulled out both wins with late-game execution and desire. They need to play that way against the Heat all game because they’re not the Kings or Pistons.

“It’s a good measuring stick for us to see where we’re at,” Harris said. “I know we’ll be up for the challenge.”

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Jordan Farmar rolled his ankle at the end of yesterday’s win over the Kings and didn’t practice today. Johnson called him a game-time decision. Farmar said if it’s his decision he’s playing.

Also, Terrence Williams’ hand was bothering him so he went for a precautionary X-ray after practice.

Troy Murphy is out tomorrow and also could miss Wednesday’s game against Charlotte as he continues his return from a lower-back injury. Johnson said Murphy probably would play the latter part of next week.

After Wednesday, the Nets have a road back-to-back at Orlando and Miami, Friday and Saturday.

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Coach’s corner

“Those three guys are going to be on defense for probably 80 possessions. So we’ll have 80 opportunities to make them pay also. That’s the great thing about basketball: you’re not on defense every possession. Hopefully we’ll do a better job of taking care of the ball. I don’t think it will be a good idea to turn it over [26] times for the rest of the year."

- Johnson on how the Nets will stop James, Wade and Bosh

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Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)