Okafor ‘happy’ with performance in return to lineup

After a long layoff to get up to speed with his new teammates, Jahlil Okafor made his Barclays Center debut in Wednesday’s 98-97 win over the Timberwolves.

“It was exciting just to be playing in front of the home crowd. It was a lot of fun,” Okafor said. “It was my first time in a while. ... So to finally play in front of a supportive crowd, it was a good feeling.”

Okafor had two points and two rebounds in 11:10 minutes. His first score came with 8:55 left in the half, taking the ball at the elbow and going to the rim.

“I’m happy with the way I performed,” Okafor said. “I’ve tried to work on making the team better and some of the stuff I talked about with coach [Kenny Atkinson], I was able to achieve such as screen sighting and communicating and being active, having energy, and I was able to do that.

“It’s key to be patient. You don’t want to rush anything. … We still have a lot of games left. We have a long season and hopefully I have a long career.”

Atkinson, who used Okafor with stretch-big Quincy Acy to keep the floor spaced, said he was satisfied with his play.

“[He was] good,” Atkinson said. “He was solid, understood what we do, what we’re doing. It’s just going to take him time. He really understood our system, and was in the right place.”

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who turned 23 Wednesday, picked up three charges and a technical in a 2:59 span, then briefly went to the locker room.

“He was upset obviously, and needed to cool down. ( Jacque Vaughn) did a great job talking to him, telling him to keep his cool and stay with it,” Atkinson said. “When he came back to the bench he was great. I told him get ready you’re going in in one minute. So what did Vaughn tell him? “He said Happy Birthday, brother,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “I had to regroup.”

DeMarre Carroll played through a rib injury that had him questionable, then got kicked in the face. His status for Saturday is up in the air.

“You ever put ribs on a barbeque grill and smoke them? That’s how they feel,” Carroll said.

Caris LeVert sat out with a groin strain. The Nets are hopeful he will be back Saturday.