The Nets can’t blame their performance on lack of energy from an empty building due to bad weather.

Coach Avery Johnson wouldn’t have that if it was the case, which surprisingly it wasn’t.

A better-than-expected crowd came out to see the Nets play the Magic last night. Many of them wanted to see Dwight Howard or boo Hedo Turkoglu –- for some strange reason there were derogatory chants directed at him –- but they also wanted to see the Nets pull off the upset.

Perhaps the loudest reaction came when Kris Humphries stuffed a Howard dunk attempt, but the Nets didn’t do enough of that in a 104-88 loss at the Prudential Center.

With 11,514 fans in attendance, many of whom probably spent the day digging themselves out of the snow, the Nets could have at least dug in defensively and made it a game.

But they couldn’t against a superior team that has far too many weapons, made far too many shots and figured if they made the trip here they might as well leave with a win.

You could say the Nets were rusty from having a few days off, just one practice and no shootaround because of the snow. But we’ve seen plenty of games to know the Nets could shootaround every day and it won’t help their shooting percentages.

The truth was they were a step slow on defense and ridiculously sloppy on offense. Take Devin Harris and Brook Lopez out of the game and many of the Nets would have had trouble hitting snow if they took a shot outside. Harris and Lopez were 17-of-30; the rest of the Nets were 14-of-48.

This helps LeBron James’ argument that earned headlines, upset some people and elicited reactions, including one from Johnson after the Heat superstar said if Harris and Lopez were on other teams the league would be stronger.

He's not wrong. But everyone took it to mean that James said the Nets should be contracted. He said he never said that, doesn’t know what it means and was just speaking hypothetically. But if he’s checking the box score today, James might be nodding his head a little.

There have been times this season, plenty of times, when the Nets needed more from Harris and Lopez. But they needed more from everyone else, all around the floor.

The Magic put six players in double figures, but really took off after halftime, after they started establishing Howard. Foul trouble limited Howard in the first half, and he came out in the second half with dominating on his mind.

Howard had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the last two periods, helping to spark a 35-12 run that turned a two-point Nets lead into a 21-point deficit.

The Nets couldn’t stop him and couldn’t contain anyone else. They compounded bad defense with even worse offense that included 19 points in the second and fourth quarters.

This performance blew whatever chance –- albeit slim -– the Nets had of getting Johnson to think additional days off or skipping a shootaround or two isn’t a bad thing. There may not be any more snow days allowed.

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The Nets announced that they would honor all tickets for tonight’s game, whether you were able to attend or not.

Starting on Thursday at 11 a.m., anyone holding a ticket for the game against Orlando can exchange it for a home game in January.

The Nets’ January schedule includes games against Chicago (Jan. 5), Utah (Jan. 19), Dallas (Jan. 22) and Denver (Jan. 31).

Depending on what happens by then, that could be the return of some Nets or a chance to see Carmelo Anthony in what could be one of his last games as a Nugget.

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Coach’s corner

“We’re a team, and now you should be really convinced we’re a team that needs shootarounds, especially in situations like this. We couldn’t get here to have a shootaround because of his inclement weather. We’re a team that needs shootaround. Now you understand why I bring them in for an 8:45 shootaround for a 1 o’clock game.”

- Johnson on the team’s struggles

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 Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone

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