Brook Lopez returns to Nets lineup but Deron Williams is still dinged up

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Brook Lopez is back, but Brooklyn's still waiting on plenty of players to return, while Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce try to pick up the slack.

HOUSTON -- One star was back Friday, another was left at home and another on the bench.

Brook Lopez returned to Brooklyn's lineup Friday following a seven-game absence because of a sprained left ankle, just in time to face his nemesis by circumstance, Dwight Howard. Kevin Garnett, meanwhile, was given a rest day on the first game of a back-to-back.

'At the max, we're looking at 24 minutes from (Lopez),' said coach Jason Kidd.

Deron Williams didn't make the trip because of his owned sprained left ankle. The point guard will be re-evaluated Monday, meaning he'll also miss Saturday's game at the Grizzlies.

By then, Williams will have sat six straight games, and eight overall after resting all of training camp and most of preseason with a sprain to his other ankle. With the injuries to the younger and important Nets, Garnett and Paul Pierce have been asked to shoulder a larger load than anticipated. They've failed to rise to the challenge, combining to shoot 37 percent heading into Houston. This is the second out of three back-to-backs thus far that Garnett, 37, rested at least one of the games.

The news was worse for Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko, both out at least another week, according to the Nets. Neither will play Thursday at home against the Knicks, a game to determine which New York team is less terrible.

Friday's injury report from the Nets was their most thorough, and perhaps a response to the criticism they endured for classifying every injury as day-to-day. Kirilenko had been day-to-day for three weeks. Williams was day-to-day for nearly a full month in preseason and training camp.

But Lopez returning Friday was a promising sign, representing hope that things could turn around for the struggling Nets, who were 4-11 before their game against the Rockets. He was the team's leading scorer and shot blocker by a healthy margin.

'Before (Lopez got injured Nov. 15), you can see he was playing well,' Kidd said. 'He was getting back to that dominant center. Understand that his talents are very high we saw it in Phoenix. But he got hurt. We have to start over and it's a process and hopefully we can get positive minutes out of him tonight.'

Brooklyn went just 1-6 without Lopez, failing miserably on defense and inside the paint on both ends of the floor. The center, once the subject of two-year trade rumors for Howard, has always struggled against the predominant big man of the NBA.

In 12 head-to-head match-ups before Friday, Lopez averaged just 14.5 and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 46 percent. Howard, meanwhile, dominated Lopez during his years with the Magic, putting together head-to-head averages of 20.8 points, 14.5 rebounds and 3.1 blocks while shooting over 60 percent.

But Howard didn't have the assistance Friday of Jeremy Lin, who sustained a sprained knee and will be out at least two weeks, according to the Rockets. Lin sustained the injury on Wednesday against the Hawks.

James Harden returned Friday for Houston after missing the previous three games with a sore foot.

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