Brook Lopez said he's feeling great, unlike last time in Philadelphia

Brook Lopez admitted it briefly crossed his mind.

"I thought about it once last night," the Nets center said, "but it's nothing I'm worried about."

Lopez was back where it all ended for him nearly a year ago, matching up with the 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center. The last time Lopez exited this arena, he knew something was amiss with his right foot, only to find out a day later that he broke the fifth metatarsal in a 121-120 overtime loss and was done for the season after just 17 games.

So compared to the vibe he had leaving here some 11 months ago, the one emanating from Lopez Wednesday night was downright giddy by his standards. "Great, great," Lopez said. "It's definitely much more positive. We are definitely more at the beginning than at the end of something. It's much better."

Certainly more uplifting than what the 76ers are going through. After Wednesday night's 99-91 loss, the 76ers are 0-15, matching the 1972-73 team that finished with the worst all-time single-season record of 9-73. Given he was a part of the Nets' 2009-10 team that holds the record for the worst start at 0-18, Lopez empathizes with the 76ers.

"Yeah. Definitely," he said. "Looking where we built our team now to and the expectations we have now, absolutely. It's crazy to think it's already quite a bit ago. But hopefully for Sixers fans, it will go just as fast."

In the zone

With all their defensive struggles, highlighted by allowing 43.4 points in the paint entering the night, Lionel Hollins is implementing variations of zone defenses and had the Nets working on it all week. Hollins said he's utilized zones and full-court pressure in his previous stops and wants to have it in the team's repertoire.

"It's just something that I never believed in putting it in early in the season," Hollins said. "You've got to work on your man-to-man defense because zone is man-to-man. But I did work on zone these last couple of day and slides and all that just to have it if we need it."