TORONTO — With his up-tempo pace putting stress on his starters and older players, Nets interim coach Tony Brown needs to see his bench break out of its funk.
And among the worst offenders is point guard Shane Larkin, who has struggled since the calendar flipped and he lost his starting job.
Larkin had eight points and three assists in the Nets’ 112-100 loss to the Raptors on Monday, but committed three turnovers and was minus-12 in his 20:31 on the floor. The only player worse? Fellow backup Bojan Bogdanovic, who was a minus-14.
“There’s some difficulty for [Larkin],” Brown said. “Maybe he’s not seeing the floor as well as the others. The turnovers, not taking shots when he’s open, those kinds of things, we just have to keep working with him on it. Video helps — maybe seeing it, maybe giving him some direction. We’re going to keep working on him. We’re not down on him; but we want him to play a little better.”
Larkin — who has been a minus-10 or worse in seven of his last eight games, with 26 assists and 18 turnovers in that span to lose his job to Donald Sloan — admitted Brown told the bench he needed more from the reserves.
“He said when things didn’t go well we just laid down, didn’t go out there and play with a lot of effort and energy and fight,’’ Larkin said. “No matter how the game is going if we’re up by 20, if we’re down by 20, we need to fight the same way.’’
With the Nets playing in one of 10 games on Martin Luther King Day, Brown said the slain civil rights leader’s message is just as important as it was in the 1960s, especially with the touchy state of race relations.
“There’s more to do,’’ said Brown, who is African-American. “Obviously, those times were a little different than now. You always strive for equality and justice for all, and right now it’s a little shaky in our country right now in regards to that.
“He’s not here, but his dream lives on. But as a community and a nation, we need to step up. That includes politicians and our civic leaders, our neighborhood leaders, to do more to make it a better way for everyone.’’
Brook Lopez had a team-high 29 points while Joe Johnson added 22.
It marked Johnson’s third 20-point game this month and just the fourth time he and Lopez had both topped that barrier in the same game this season.
“Just being patient in the pick-and-roll. You have to make their man make the decision whether to guard you or Brook,’’ Johnson said.
“Any time Joe and Brook are in any kind of two-man action, pick-and-rolls, they’re involved, generally something good comes out of it. Brook and Joe are showing great leadership now,’’ Brown said. “They’re taking the lead.’’