Nets triumphant in Collins’ debut

NETS 108 LAKERS 102

LOS ANGELES — On a night when the focus was on everything but basketball for the Nets, they managed to come up with a crucial victory.

Behind big games from Deron Williams and Paul Pierce, the Nets were able to come away with a 108102 win over the Lakers in front of a sellout crowd of 18,997 at Staples Center Sunday night, improving to 21 on their twoweek, sixgame Western road trip and making Jason Collins’ season debut a successful one.

“We talked about it [Saturday],” said Pierce, who finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists. “We came together as a team and just tried to talk about everything that was going on — the backtoback situation, the publicity of Jason coming in — so we were really prepared for the blitz of all this coming our way, and I’m happy with the way we responded.

“So far we’re 21 on this road trip, and we’ve got three more games, and we’re going to continue to play well.”

Playing without Kevin Garnett (rest day), Shaun Livingston (bruised tailbone) and Marcus Thornton (food poisoning), the Nets (2628) were powered by Williams (30 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a careerhigh six steals) and Pierce.

Their performances helped the Nets to do something they’ve rarely been able to this season: win the second half of a backtoback on the road. Sunday’s win was just the Nets’ third in 13 such chances this season.

“I didn’t know it was a backtoback,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said with a smile. “There was energy from the guys. We were shorthanded, but guys came out with a lot of energy.”

The Nets also got a big game from Andrei Kirilenko, who made his first start of the season in place of the injured Livingston. Making his usual contributions all over the court, Kirilenko finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in a seasonhigh 35 minutes.

“When [Kirilenko’s] played well, we’ve won,” Williams said. “There’s no doubt about it. He’s huge for us when he plays like that. He fills up stat sheets, and he does all the little things that we need to win.”