Joe Johnson was really good again tonight and took over late in the fourth quarter of a close loss, often clearing out and going at his defender in isolations down the stretch. His ball-swings and shot-making abilities helped the Nets take the lead late in the game, and he seemed to get whatever shot he wanted from Andrew Wiggins by using his stutter and hesitation jabs to get by him and throw up his floater from the mid-paint area. Wiggins took it to him early by getting to the basket and using his athleticism to finish around the rim, but Johnson made the rookie play his pace down the stretch and bodied him up in the post. The late-game turnover was Johnson’s fourth of the night and was probably the biggest play of the game, as the Nets almost immediately surrendered a three-point play to Nikola Pekovic on the next possession.

Brook Lopez showed more rust in the first quarter tonight than he did in his return against the Thunder, shooting 3-10 in the quarter and 5-14 overall. He was aggressive in the opening quarter and got some good looks, but only drew one free throw on the night and had trouble adjusting to Nikola Pekovic’s speed on defense. Pek attempted seven foul shots and finished with 16 points (on 12 shots) and 11 rebounds, and took it to Brook late in the game. Four turnovers and four personal fouls, particularly the illegal screen in the last minute, added to Lopez’s tough night and factored into the Brooklyn loss.

You can usually tell if Deron Williams has it going on a particular night if he has that hop in his crossover, and if he’s able to take his man off the dribble to get his free throw-line jumper. Outside of only a single free throw attempt and a lack of shots in the paint or in the post, Deron was aggressive tonight and trying to push the pace to get easy buckets, even spotting up from three on some secondary fast breaks after an early advancement of the ball. On defense he mostly kept Rubio out of the paint and in front of him, conceding open jumpers and going below screens, but Rubio’s aggressiveness in the fourth quarter got him a couple of easy buckets off the dribble or by cutting off of a Pek post-up. His four turnovers were endemic to the team tonight but he was one of the few Nets who were able to shoot the ball and create offense.

Bogdanovic again struggled with his jumper and seemed tentative at times on the offensive end. He showed glimpses of his all-around abilities by hitting a three-pointer, crashing the offensive board for a put-back, and drawing a couple of free throws in his 23 minutes, but gave a lot of it back on the defensive end by losing Kevin Martin on back-cuts and by over-helping on Pekovic post-ups. He couldn’t get back in the game after subbing out in the third quarter, as head coach Lionel Hollins went with a Jarrett Jack/Alan Anderson two-guard platoon to finish the game.

Teletovic was the first sub off the bench for Lionel Hollins and only took one shot from inside the three-point arc as the small-ball power forward. His three threes and six boards were a main component to the second units’ success and helped to energize the home crowd after a tough start to the game. His +16 was second on the team behind Mason Plumlee, but his defensive limitations allowed Thaddeus Young to up-fake and get to the basket on the shot that put Minnesota up five in the closing minute.

Kirilenko entered the game for a five-minute stretch in the third quarter, replacing Teletovic at the power forward, and grabbed a rebound and had his shot blocked by Gorgui Dieng. He provided Hollins with a more mobile option to throw at the Minnesota big men, but can’t be happy with playing under five minutes in back to back contests.

Jordan also came in for a brief stretch in the third quarter, subbing in for Brook Lopez and out for Mason Plumlee barely a minute later. He rebounded a Thaddeus Young jumper and set a screen or two, but didn’t have a chance to make an impact tonight.

Plumlee played well in his limited time on the court, leading the team in plus/minus at +17. He missed both free throws, scored only two points on two shots, and totaled just 13 minutes, yet his mobility from the center spot was sorely needed against the quicker Minnesota front-line, especially given Lopez’s struggles. Plumlee ran the court well and showed some burst as the dive man off the pick-and-roll, and was quick enough to stay with Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng on the other end.

Jarrett Jack had his best all-around game with the Nets against the Timberwolves, and his battles with Mo Williams in the second half were fun in an “older vets shooting long jumpers” kind of way. He did a little bit of everything, by getting to the free throw line, setting up teammates, and grabbing rebounds, and established his presence with the second unit by pulling up for jumpers in transition or when coming off of screens. Jack played most of the fourth quarter, outside of some offense/defense substitutions with Alan Anderson, and took Bogdanovic’s two-guard minutes with the starting unit.

Anderson had a pretty subdued stat-line in his 25 minutes, but mostly provided solid perimeter defense off the bench and stretched the floor even if he didn’t get many shot attempts. Kevin Martin’s veteran tricks were far more effective against the rookie Bogdanovic than against Anderson and the second unit, as Anderson was able to close out on the Minnesota wing shooters without over-pursuing or fouling. The threat of his jump shot was enough to keep defenses honest, and he drew a Rubio foul on a three-point attempt, converting two.

Hollins had a chance to win this game late in the fourth quarter, after letting Joe Johnson isolate and go to work against the Timberwolves, but the teams’ 18 turnovers ultimately proved insurmountable. He made some interesting moves, by leaving the rookie Bogdanovic on the bench for much of the second half and closing the game with his two (point) guard lineup of Deron and Jack (or Alan Anderson). Brook Lopez was mostly ineffective, offensively and defensively, in his second game back from injury, and in hindsight it might have been nice to see the quicker Plumlee get more minutes defending Rubio/Pekovic pick-and-rolls. Hollins went with his veterans down the stretch but also substituted Teletovic in at the power forward position pretty liberally, and again trusted Joe Johnson to create offense in close-and-late moments. His interview on the YES broadcast about being funny around the team was a bit awkward, but otherwise Hollins mostly put the Nets in position to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves and couldn’t control his teams’ turnover issues tonight.