NEW ORLEANS – Avery Johnson was in the Christmas spirit. He gave his team a break, more than one actually, after a bad loss.
 
The Nets coach also looked for positive as the team heads into its Christmas break.

Johnson said tired legs may have had something to do with their 105-91 loss last night to the Hornets. He also gave them off of practice today. They may meet and lift, but no contact before going home for the holiday.

Johnson did the right thing because this wasn’t a game like last week’s loss to the Sixers and others when the Nets just had no energy. That wasn’t the issue against the Hornets.

One night after winning in Memphis, the Nets battled in this game, erasing an 11-point lead in the first half. They also tried to put together a run after falling behind by 22, but they couldn’t make enough consecutive baskets or consecutive stops.

The defensive end really was where the Nets’ legs looked rubbery, really from the start. The Hornets shot 13-for-17 in the first quarter and 11-for-17 in the third, en route to 32 and 26 points, respectively. The Nets didn’t have the offense to match that.

“They had a lot of energy,” Johnson said. “They came out like a desperate team that lost a couple of tough ones on the road. Fresh team, fresh legs. We just didn’t have it tonight.”

But quickly after that, Johnson turned to something positive:

“This is the first time this year we’ve been 3-2 in a five-game set so that’s good news,” Johnson said.

Coaches break down the season in five-game intervals. The Nets have had one 2-3 stretch, three 1-4 spans and went 0-5 once. The winless set came in the prior five-game span. Johnson attributed some of the change to the arrival of Sasha Vujacic.

He definitely has had a positive impact, providing the Nets with energy and scoring off the bench. The Nets need both of those things because some games they look zapped and some they have trouble hitting 80 points.

Overall, though, the team seems to be playing with more urgency and blocking out the possibility – if not probability - they will be broken up whether or not a deal for Carmelo Anthony can be reached.

The Nets understand their record could be better than 9-21 and they let some winnable games get away from them for a variety of reasons from execution troubles to low-energy to slow starts in the first and third quarters or bad endings to quarters.

But the Nets recognized this stretch of games presented them with opportunities to get back in the winning column. For the most part, they played with confidence and purpose. They probably could have been 4-1 but their execution on both ends failed them in Toronto.

“Right now going into our mini-break, mini All-Star break, I’m hoping that we’ll come back with some fresh legs and even more of a renewed energy and a sense of purpose,” Johnson said.

The Nets will need that when they come back.

They return to practice Sunday and play the Magic in Newark on Monday. It’s the start of a tough five-game stretch that includes games at Oklahoma City, Chicago and Minnesota and a home game against the Bulls.
.
The next five-game stretch features games at Washington, home for Milwaukee, then at the Suns, Lakers and Blazers.

Depending on who the Nets have and how they’re playing they may not have another above .500 five-game stretch for a little while.

But after their best road trip and five-game set of the season  Johnson was in the giving mood, looking only at positives.

“You got to try and find something,” Johnson said. “For our team if we go 1-1 on the rest of our road trips the rest of this year it might be pretty good for us.”

***

Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone

***

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