New-look Nets get set for scrimmage with Pelicans

The last time the Brooklyn Nets played a game was March 10 in Los Angeles, a surprising win by the shorthanded team that provided a boost in spirits - a short-lived lift as the season was suspended a day later.

The Nets will take the court against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night for a scrimmage, their first game since that day and what seemed shorthanded in March is very different than what the Nets face as they resume the season.

Three of the starters from that game - Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan and Wilson Chandler - are not even with the team in Orlando now. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant bowed out of the resumption of the season in the bubble-like campus at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando.

And as they start up with a 40-minute scrimmage which will be televised on YES Network and NBA TV, even the roster fill-ins will be mostly sidelined. Jamal Crawford, Tyler Johnson and Justin Anderson won’t play as they acclimate to the new system and work their way back into NBA game shape.

Anderson, who just practiced for the first time with the team, revealed that the long delay in getting on the court and officially on the roster was because of multiple positive tests for COVID-19, making him the ninth Nets player to test positive for the virus since testing began in March.

“It’s something we wanted to try and keep in-house because we weren’t quite sure when we’d be able to pass the protocols,” Anderson said Tuesday night. “Battling between negative and positive tests, battling between trying to make sure I got here in a car service rather than a plane to make sure I continue to follow protocol. It was just a long journey.”

Anderson briefly played with the Nets on a 10-day contract in January and then was with the team’s G League affiliate when the season was halted. He returned home to Atlanta during the suspension of the season and while working out he found himself dealing with mixed results of testing.

“That’s when I got the call that I’d quarantine there once I got tested in Atlanta,” Anderson said. “First positive, then a negative, then a positive, followed up with more back-and-forth results. Then I realized there were some positive tests and things before that. It was just a really weird and unfortunate situation. But credit to [Anderson’s agent] Mark Bartelstein. He kept me positive and optimistic and kept my mental really good to prepare me to get here. We worked together and I’m glad it finally happened.”

The Nets lost Taurean Prince and Michael Beasley to the virus this month. Lance Thomas, who just joined the team last week, is expected to get some playing time in the opening scrimmage.

“We’ll have a variance of minutes,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. "Take a guy like Jamal Crawford, Tyler Johnson, Justin Anderson — those guys will not play because they’re catching up to speed. Take a guy like Caris LeVert who will play and try to create and sustain some timing. We’ll put a group out there that we’re just trying to get our conditioning to a decent level and a little bit of rhythm at the same time.

“I’m excited. I think any time you get a chance to compete I think we’ve hit each other enough. I talked about that today in our film session of just it’s been great to screen each other and sometimes you’ve been careful screening each other not to hurt each other, but now we get to officially tie our shoes up and set productive screens to get your teammate open. So the compete level I’m looking forward to seeing, the unselfishness I’m looking forward to seeing, and then just getting back on the basketball court and seeing guys compete together.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.