It's not easy coming to work with 3-12 record, says Nets' Joe Johnson

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Certainly, with a record of 3-12 and a date Saturday night in Cleveland with LeBron James and the Cavaliers, the Nets have their own problems.

But those problems aren't so bad that they can't look beneath them in the Atlantic Division standings and feel a little sympathy for the one team in the division with a worse record than them: the Philadelphia 76ers.

"I can't even imagine it to be honest with you," Joe Johnson said Friday of being the Sixers, who were 0-16 going into last night's game in Houston against the Rockets. "Not just this season, but the past year or two for them. I couldn't imagine that."

Philadelphia struggled to an 18-64 record last season, starting 2014-15 with 17 straight losses - one shy of the NBA record of 18, set by the Nets in 2009-10 - and closed it with 10 straight losses. So as bad as things are for the Nets this season, they know it could be much worse. Brook Lopez, the longest-tenured Net, understands that better than anyone. He was a second-year NBA player on that 2009-10 Nets team that started 0-18.

Lopez insisted he was not rooting for the Sixers to break the Nets' unenviable record. He is instead pulling for the Sixers to keep working together and fighting hard - something he acknowledged that the 2009-10 Nets didn't always do. In the meantime, Lopez said he learned much from those dark days, and believes he is a better basketball player now because of having gone through them.

"I tell the guys a lot - I'd seen things in the league my first four years that I'm sure lots of 10-year guys had never seen," Lopez said. "It was a very unique experience, and I did learn positive things. I learned a lot of negative things, as well - things not to do, habits not to pick up. And so, it definitely did help me grow as a player."

So far this season, despite their own record, the Nets have maintained a largely positive attitude. They are taking comfort in the fact that they have played many close games against good teams. In seven of their 12 losses, they've either led, were tied, or were within a basket of the lead in the fourth quarter.

"I think that's what keeps everyone in a positive mode around here, knowing that we're not coming out and losing by 30 every game," said Johnson, who will most likely guard James. "We've had our chances, we've been right there. It's the little things that we're trying to tweak and get better at that hopefully carry over to some wins. I mean, it's tough. I'm not going to say it's easy to come in here day in and day out and keep working. We're 3-12. But this is our profession; this is what we do."

NOTES: Reserve center/forward Willie Reed took part in non-contact drills for the first time since he suffered a torn thumb ligament in the preseason.