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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Brooklyn Nets have yet to win a game at the United Center this season.

They need to on Thursday night. Otherwise, they'll be eliminated from the playoffs.

"I don't think there's any magic to the building," interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said Wednesday. "I think it's the guys the white uniforms and the fact that we've done a poor job closing out."

Despite the fact that their backs are against the wall, the Nets remain confident.

If only they had closed out Game 4 in Chicago ...

"We definitely feel like we can win this series," Joe Johnson said. "It's not over until the first team gets four wins, so at this point we still have a shot."

Added Andray Blatche: "We put ourselves in a hole, so we've gotta dig out of it and win the next two games."

As practice was coming to a close, House of Pain's "Jump Around" could be heard blaring through speakers at the team's practice facility.

Yes, despite their predicament, the Nets remain a loose bunch.

"You have to be loose, relaxed, not put added pressure on yourself," Johnson said. "We're just trying to come out and execute the game plan that the coach is putting together."

"It's just our guys' nature. I'm sure the Bulls are confident too," Carlesimo said. "I think the two teams certainly respect each other and we've had enough close games. ... The teams know each other well. We're pretty close to each other. We finished four-five in the regular season, so I think both teams have reasons to be confident. It's just going to come down to which teams goes out there and plays better."

TOUGH ENOUGH? After Game 4, Taj Gibson said the Bulls are a tougher team.

"It doesn't matter, doesn't mean anything," Johnson said. "At this point, it's about who wants it bad enough. I think we definitely have to come out and be the more thirstier team. We've proven a lot in this series. Right now our backs are against the wall still and we have to go Chicago and win a game.

"The thing about who's tougher -- it doesn't matter at this point."

"He's supposed to say that, that's his team," Blatche said of Gibson. "If he said differently, I'm pretty sure his teammates would look at him different. ... [But] we're the tougher team. We gotta continue to show that and fight."

FINISH UP WRONG: In this series, Deron Williams is 4-for-17 in fourth quarters and overtimes.

BULLS UPDATE: Kirk Hinrich (calf) didn't do much at practice, according to the Bulls, and is listed as day to day for Game 6. Hinrich, who missed Game 5, said he's hopeful but still needs to improve, according to the team's Twitter feed. ... Luol Deng (illness) and Gibson (illness) missed Wednesday practice, but coach Tom Thibodeau is hopeful they'll both play.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez is playing the best defense of his career.

Lopez ranks second in blocks per game during the 2013 playoffs, behind Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka (3.5 to 3.4).

According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Nets are giving up just 95.5 points per 100 possessions against the Chicago Bulls with Lopez on the court, compared to 118.9 without him.

"I just think I really have to attribute that to our team defense," Lopez said. "We've been improving as the year's gone on, and our trust levels have gone up as well."

Asked if he has been more aggressive on defense, Lopez responded, "Definitely. I'm that last line of defense."

Last season, Lopez played just five games due to a foot injury. "I'm honestly happy to be playing," he said. "It sucked to not be on the floor playing with my teammates. I wanted to get in a place where I wouldn't be able to get injured again and go out there and be able to play basketball and have fun."

This season, Lopez made his first All-Star team and finished fifth in the NBA in PER behind LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony.

In the postseason (five games), he's averaging 23.6 points and 8.0 rebounds on 49.9 percent shooting.

Power forward Reggie Evans recently referred to Lopez as a top-two center in the league.

TNT analysts and former stars Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal have also praised the 25-year-old.

"That's a huge honor," Lopez said. "Obviously it’s great to hear from a teammate and legends like Shaq and Charles Barkley. I'm very proud of that and I thank them for the compliment."

Lopez had his right ankle taped because of stiffness, but said he's fine. The Bulls will play Game 6 in Chicago at 8 p.m. Thursday, their second consecutive elimination game.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Joe Johnson admitted that he's essentially playing on one leg at this point, and probably wouldn't be playing if it were the regular season.

Johnson is currently hampered by plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

"I can't really push the basketball if I get a rebound, I can't really run pick-and-rolls, so basically I'm a decoy, a spot-up shooter. I can't really do a whole lot," Johnson said. "Like I told Deron [Williams] and Brook [Lopez], I'll be the bailout guy. If you get into a sticky situation, just try and find me."

Johnson is averaging 16.2 points on 44.7 percent shooting in 39 minutes per game during the first five games of his team's first-round series against the Chicago Bulls. Game 6 is Thursday night at United Center; the Nets need to win to avoid elimination.

"I'm not concerned that Joe's playing injured [and] I'm not worried that he's going injure it any more," interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "It is what it is. He's playing, hindered or whatever is the correct word, and it's just he's dealing with it. I think that people probably don't appreciate what he's going through every game to go out there and to play.

"My doctors and trainers and Joe himself, we wouldn't put him out there if there was a chance he would injure it anymore. It's injured. He's done the damage right now and playing on it is not hurting it anymore."

Carlesimo gives Johnson credit for gutting it out.

"That's what warriors do. Everybody doesn't do that," Carlesimo said. "That's what guys who are warriors, guy who really are competitors, that's what they do."

Also on the injury front, backup center Andray Blatche (right calf strain) said he's going to receive treatment and hopes to be 90 percent by game time Thursday night. Blatche said he can give the Nets as many minutes as Carlesimo wants to give him.

Power forward Reggie Evans (illness) was not at practice, but will travel to Chicago and is expected to play in Game 6.

Brooklyn Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo says he has “no clue” if he needs to advance past the first round of the playoffs to keep his job.

“There’s nothing we can do about that,” Carlesimo said Tuesday on ESPN New York 98.7 FM’s “The Michael Kay Show.”

“We’re trying to win the series and get to Miami ... I can’t control that.”

Carlesimo reiterated that it’s not something he thinks about -- except when it’s brought up to him in interviews.

• Joe Johnson has gutted through the playoffs so far despite dealing with a plantar fasciitis ailment in his left foot.

“I don’t think he’s getting better, but Joe’s gonna play,” Carlesimo said.

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah is dealing with the same injury.

“Neither of them are gonna be healthy the rest of this year, they’re just playing through it,” Carlesimo said.

“Joe Johnson is a warrior, he’s doing great things considering the condition his foot is in.”

• Carlesimo said of Gerald Wallace, “We’re not going anywhere without Gerald Wallace. ... He doesn’t have to score to play minutes for us.”

• The NBA rescinded C.J. Watson’s technical foul he picked up in the second quarter of Game 4.

Brooklyn Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said he felt it was “important” for his players to hear a Chicago reporter calling them “gutless” and “heartless” during a television interview prior to Game 5 Monday night.

Did Carlesimo ever question his team’s guts and heart?

“No. Not at all,” Carlesimo said Tuesday during a conference call with reporters. “We’ve been, we’ve talked about it all year, we’re not an easy team to read. We’ve had some real disappointments. We’ve had some nights where we were just listless and got whacked and didn’t look very good, and you say to yourself, ‘Boy how are they gonna come back from this?’ And then the very next day, we play a really good game.

“I think we’re the opposite of that.”

Carlesimo expanded on why he decided to show his team the video. The Nets responded with a 110-91 rout of the Chicago Bulls to pull within 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is Thursday night at United Center.

“It was just one more thing where rather than do nothing, [I wanted to] do something,” he said. “Did it help 15 guys? No. But maybe it helped a couple guys, maybe it struck a chord with a couple guys.

“It was just an effort to do a little something. We knew we weren’t gonna do anything on the court or anything like that. I’m not a Knute Rockne speaker, so it was just something that hopefully would resonate with a couple of different people.”

Clearly, it did.

• Carlesimo said Andray Blatche’s calf is “very sore.” The interim coach pondered taking his backup center out of the game late in the fourth quarter, but Blatche wanted to play through it. He ended up scoring 10 of his 13 points in the final period.

Blatche originally hurt his calf in Game 4, then told reporters he re-aggravated it Monday night.

• Carlesimo delivered a money quote when he was asked about Joakim Noah’s toughness.

“He’s one of those guys you gotta put a wood stake through his heart,” Carlesimo said.

• The Nets have never won a playoff elimination Game 6 to force Game 7 in franchise history.

Brooklyn Nets power forward Reggie Evans called Brook Lopez a top-two center in the NBA going into the playoffs.

And his opinion hasn’t changed since.

"How can you say he’s not a top-two center in the league?" Evans said after Lopez scored a playoff career-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Monday night’s 110-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at Barclays Center.

"I’m not talking about in the East. I’m talking about in the league, period. How many big men can go down low and trust them to hit a jumper, hit a post-up move?

"People don’t know it; Brook is going to be one of the best big men before you know it. So Brooklyn has something to be real thankful for."

That’s for sure.

Lopez has scored 20 or more points in all five games of the series, the longest streak by a Nets player since Vince Carter had eight straight 20-point games in 2007, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

In his first postseason, the 25-year-old All-Star is averaging 23.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.4 blocks. He’s shooting 49.4 percent from the field, 89.2 percent from the free-throw stripe and drained his first career 3-pointer in Game 4.

"It’s hard to put one or two guys ahead of him, the way he’s playing this year," point guard Deron Williams said. "The way he’s played all season, he’s just stepped his game up a lot. We’ve talked about it all year: I just think he had a chip on his shoulder with all the Dwight (Howard) rumors and his injury last year -- all the things that have gone on -- you kind of think that it got him going."

"And he worked real hard all summer and he’s been great for us."

Added interim coach P.J. Carlesimo: "He’s been excellent."

Asked if he considers himself a star, Lopez said, "I consider myself a player on the Brooklyn Nets. I’m just one of the guys and I want to be known as a great teammate and someone who would be there to back them up."

How modest of you, Brook.

As Andray Blatche turned the corner from the showers and saw the media contingent waiting for him at his locker, the center smiled and halted in his tracks. Dressed in just a towel, he slowly backpedaled, landing next to center Brook Lopez, who is three lockers down from him in the Nets locker room.

"Brook, they want you," Blatche said.

No, Blatche. You were the man of the hour.

The big man scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and helped the Nets pull away in their 110-91 win over Chicago in Game 5. Blatche has now scored double-digits in three of five games this series.

"My main thing was I just wanted to get the ball to the paint and just be aggressive, not settle for jump shots," Blatche said. "I tried to stay in attack mode and I was successful doing it."

Playing on a sprained calf he suffered in Saturday's Game 4 loss, Blatche barely made a difference during the first three quarters, logging just three points and a single board in more than eight minutes. In the fourth quarter, Blatche came alive to make sure Brooklyn would live to see at least another night.

Chicago had been clawing back into the game for the most of the second half and trailed just 79-78 with 11:03 left. Kris Humphries missed at the other end, but in a critical sequence, Blatche snatched the offensive board and scored.

Chicago followed with a turnover and Blatche finished at the other end to push the lead back up to five at 83-78. The Bulls kept it within one basket over the next few possessions, but Blatche later nailed a pair of free throws following a flagrant foul, and connected on a drive to put Brooklyn up 91-84 with 6:09 left. Chicago never made it closer than a five-point deficit the rest of the way.

With his team on the brink of elimination, Blatche played all but 54 seconds in the final quarter and added four rebounds in the stanza. He played the most minutes of any Nets player in the fourth quarter and gave the team a much-needed boost when Chicago seemed poised to take the lead.

"He has done that throughout the season," Lopez said. "He is definitely capable of it and we are definitely going to need that again. We have all the faith in him and when he gets an opportunity he takes advantage of it."

Blatche said his ankle is still aching a little bit, and he plans on getting some treatment, but it's "pretty much good."

Teammate Reggie Evans isn't stressing about the status of Blatche's ankle. He knows there's no way Blatche would let the injury keep him out of action.

"I know he's going to play. He ain't going to let us down. He ain't going to let that stop him," Evans said. "My boy, he came through in the clutch."

Deron Williams said the Nets didn't need any extra motivation following their heartbreaking triple-overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls.

But interim coach P.J. Carlesimo found some anyway.

And it had nothing to do with his team’s 14-point collapse with less than three minutes remaining in Game 4.

“As a team we just watched the clip of the guy calling us 'heartless and gutless,' ” Williams said following the Nets’ 110-91 rout of the Bulls in Game 5 on Monday night at Barclays Center.

Carlesimo had his team watch the clip, which appeared on television at halftime of Game 4, on Monday morning.

In the clip, the Chicago Sun-Times reporter being interviewed said the Bulls wanted to face the Nets in the first round because they privately felt that Brooklyn was “gutless” and “heartless,” and therefore could be exposed in close games in the fourth quarter as a result.

The reporter also dissed D-Will, saying he doesn’t finish games as he should and tends to lose focus.

“We don’t even know who that is,” said Williams, who finished with 23 points and 10 assists.

Quite a response, huh?

“We didn’t need that. That’s not why. That had nothing to do with it. We laughed about it,” Williams said laughing, while mixing in a bit of sarcasm.

“P.J. wanted us to watch it. And after it was over, we were like, that’s it? What are we supposed to do now? ‘Ah! We’re mad!’”

Williams added: “We wanted to win this game for us and our fans to extend our season. We didn’t want to go fishing, [and] be on TNT with the hats on.”

Will the Nets watch the clip prior to Game 6 on Thursday night?

“Maybe,” D-Will laughed. “Maybe that’s going to be our theme.”

Brooklyn Nets forward Gerald Wallace put the Chicago Bulls away in Game 5 on Monday night.

With the Nets up by seven late in the fourth quarter, Wallace drilled a 3-pointer, then followed with a steal and dunk to give them a commanding 103-91 lead.

Brooklyn went on to rout Chicago, 110-91, at Barclays Center to get within 3-2 of the Bulls in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

“Our backs are against the wall right now, but we’re a fighting team and we’re not ready to go home,” said Wallace, who scored 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting -- including 2-for-4 from 3-point range.

“We feel like we’re better than this team and we’ve just had some games slip away. We feel like we’re good enough and a better team and we can win three in a row just like they did.”

In the last two games of the series, Wallace has scored a combined 29 points on 10-for-17 shooting -- 4-for-8 from downtown.

Is this really the same player that claimed he had no idea what his role was going into Game 4?

“I just didn’t hesitate. I just shot it,” Wallace said. “That’s what I want to do more of this season: stay in attack mode and be aggressive.”

So ... about that whole late-game sequence?

“It was good. Whatever I can do to help,” Wallace said.

For much of the season, Wallace has inflicted the majority of the damage on his defensive end. But it sounds as though he’s regained his confidence on the offensive end of the floor.

If it continues, the Nets will be that much more dangerous going forward.

“I feel pretty good [confidence-wise]. The main thing is not to think about it, just play,” he said.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Brooklyn Nets are still alive.

The Nets, rebounding from a devastating triple-overtime loss, staved off elimination on Monday night, beating the Chicago Bulls 110-91 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at Barclays Center.

The Nets, who shot 50 percent from the field and uncharacteristically got 21 points on the fast break, now trail the Bulls 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.

The Nets are 6-0 all time when hosting Game 5.

BROOK-LYN: Brook Lopez, continuing his dominant ways in this series, collected 28 points and 10 rebounds. Lopez came in averaging 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks against the Bulls.

CRASH: Gerald Wallace was a solid contributor on offense for a second straight game. No questioning roles here. Wallace hit two 3-pointers and finished with 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting. Wallace hit a corner 3, then got a steal and dunk to put the Bulls away.

MR. FOURTH QUARTER: Andray Blatche had 10 of his 13 points in the final period, carrying the Nets down the stretch.

D-WILL: Deron Williams had 13 of his 23 points in the third quarter. The franchise point guard added 10 assists and shot 6-for-14 from the field.

NATE DOG: Nate Robinson, starting in place of the injured Kirk Hinrich, who missed the game due to a bruised left calf, had 20 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Robinson shredded the Nets in Game 4, scoring 23 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter.

SUPPORTING CAST: C.J. Watson had 11 points, while Reggie Evans grabbed 12 rebounds.

WHO’S IN THE HOUSE? Several Islanders -- notably superstar John Tavares and goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. The Islanders are slated to play at Barclays Center in 2014-15. Chris Mullin also attended the game.

UP NEXT: Game 6 on Thursday night at United Center. Time TBD.

In the little time Jerry Stackhouse spent as Jason Collins' teammate during the 2011-12 season in Atlanta, Collins won over the Brooklyn Nets forward. Stackhouse can fondly recall playing card games on planes with the center and how Collins always used to lend him extra tickets.

Monday, Collins announced that he is gay, becoming the first active athlete in a United States men's team sport to do so. Stackhouse had nothing but kind words of support and praise for his former teammate.

"I'm just totally in support. Jason is a great teammate," Stackhouse said before Game 5 against Chicago. "I think if there's anybody that can carry that mantra and the character to stand behind it and carry the flag for other players, I think it's Jason. He was a great teammate and I wish him the best."

Stackhouse, 38, talked Monday with Collins and said Collins said he was tired of not being able to be himself. Stackhouse said he told Collins the big man was one of his favorite teammates and he's going to be encouraging others to support Collins. He hopes this is a monumental day for the league.

"If there's someone to do it and someone who has the personality, the smarts and the character to do it, I think Jason is the guy," Stackhouse said. "We're going to hopefully rally around him not only our league, [but] our player's union and our general body. We can educate each other. I think this is only going to spark great dialogue, and I think a lot of times that subject is something guys shy away from, but I think now that we can have healthy dialogue and try to ease those fears."

Collins spent time this season with Boston and Washington and is now a free agent. Stackhouse said he believes it would do wonders for the league to have a team sign Collins. He joked that he hopes David Stern could pull some strings and land Collins a roster spot.

"I think the real response would be once he gets a job," Stackhouse said. "I'm pulling for him to be able to play with that in the league. I'm interested to see how he performs without carrying that burden that he's carried for the 12 years he's been in the league and probably longer in his life. Just having that weight off his shoulders, how great he can perform at his craft with that weight lifted."

Collins' announcement comes on the same day the Nets try to keep their season alive against the Bulls, who have a commanding 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Stackhouse entertained questions for 18 minutes prior to the game and said it puts things into perspective.

"[It] just lets us know there's a lot of things a lot bigger than the game. We live and die ... on a night-to-night basis because this is our job and what we do," Stackhouse said. "But people are facing a lot bigger issues than winning a basketball game. Whether we win this game or play a Game 6 ... there's a lot of uncertain roads for one of our brothers going forward. And that's why I think we need to support him not only as a league, not only as a union, not only as a body, but just as human beings, and I think that the fact this is a big day for us."

Despite the uncertainty surrounding his future, Brooklyn Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo isn’t thinking about his job status heading into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

“When the games come as quickly as they come, it’s very easy now to be tunneled in,” Carlesimo said Monday night. “Our message going into the locker room coming off the floor Saturday was ‘Monday night.’ It was an easy message. By the time we got back Saturday night, we saw most of the tape on the plane and you get back and you get focused for tonight. It’s such a quick turnaround and hopefully if we can get some wins, it’s going to be the same.

“If you’re thinking about anything else other than the next game now, you’re wasting time.”

The Nets need to win three games in a row to advance into Round 2.

Carlesimo’s future with the Nets, sources told ESPN.com, likely hinges on how far his team goes in the playoffs.

He went 35-19 during the regular season after replacing Avery Johnson.

Brooklyn Nets GM Billy King commended former Net Jason Collins for becoming the first active player in a major American team sport to announce that he's gay.

"Jason Collins was a vital member of the New Jersey Nets for six-and-a-half years, and as an executive with a competing NBA team, I always respected the standard he set for team play and the example he set for the league in playing with integrity and purpose," King said in a statement released by the Nets.

"He exemplifies everything we look for in players, and for those players and associates within our organization, our primary focus is creating the most accepting and respectful environment for everyone to succeed."

Collins played for the Nets from 2001-08 and was a member of the franchise's back-to-back NBA Finals teams in 2002-03.

A pair of current Nets players also praised Collins.

"It is an honor for me to call Jason Collins a friend," said Brook Lopez, who attended Collins' alma mater, Stanford. "I admire his dignity as well as his courage to come out. I'll always have his back."

"Jason Collins was one of the best teammates I've ever had," said Joe Johnson, who played with Collins for three seasons in Atlanta. "I respect his tremendous courage to come out and will always support him."

Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo was asked if the NBA is better equipped to handle Collins' coming out now than it would've been a decade ago.

“I just think the NBA reflects society and I think society hopefully is a lot more mature or accepting or ready for acting the way we should act right now," Carlesimo said. "That implies we weren’t ready in '03. I don’t know if it happened in '03 if it would have been any different.

"I think it’s great that Jason did it. It’s extremely courageous on his part, but I think the NBA will react very, very well. We’re only a tiny part, but I think they will react very, very well. I don’t know if I could say, ‘Oh god, I’m glad this didn’t happen in '03, we wouldn’t have been ready then.' I think we very well could have been then. I hope that we would react even better than the rest of society. We’re a little bit part of society but given the family aspect and what we all do together every year, I think we could handle it a lot better."

Click here for the Jason Collins news story.

Sixers executive Rod Thorn, who made a draft-day trade for Jason Collins as president of the New Jersey Nets in 2001, said Monday he is proud of the veteran NBA center for revealing he is gay and for developing into a model representative of the Nets franchise.

"Jason was a total professional, a tough, hard-nosed player who always did the right things," Thorn told ESPNNewYork.com by phone. "He wasn't very athletic, but he always boxed out so someone else could go in to get the rebound. He was always in the right spot, a very smart player, a guy who did all the little things that helped you win.

"Everybody loved playing with Twin because you knew what he was going to do. He was always there backing up a teammate. He got the maximum out of his ability, and he's really one of my all-time favorite guys."

Thorn acquired Collins in a draft-day trade with Houston, sending Eddie Griffin to the Rockets for the Stanford center, Richard Jefferson and Brandon Armstrong. Collins' twin brother, Jarron, was also drafted in 2001, by Utah.

As a valued role player, Collins helped the Nets make two consecutive trips to the Finals, where they lost to the Lakers and the Spurs.

"Other than taking Michael Jordan once upon a time in Chicago, Twin was part of one of my best drafts," Thorn recalled. "I'm very proud of him."

Thorn said he was caught by surprise Monday when he saw Collins' announcement pass on his TV crawler.

"During his time with us, for the biggest part of it, he had a steady girlfriend and I think everybody anticipated he'd get married at some point," Thorn said. "So from that standpoint his announcement came as a surprise to me."

Thorn said he does not believe that executives will avoid drafting or signing players who are openly gay.

"It's so hard to get good players, and tough enough keep them once you get them, that I think virtually everybody looks at players now and asks, 'Can he help us?'" Thorn said. "I just don't think his sexual orientation matters in today's world."

Former Nets center Jason Collins announced that he's gay in a story for Sports Illustrated on Monday, becoming the first active player in a major American team sport to do so.

Shortly after his announcement, many in the NBA voiced public support for Collins, a 12-year veteran who spend last season with the Wizards.

Knicks guard Jason Kidd was among those who praised Collins.

Shortly after Collins' announcement, Kidd posted the following message on his official Twitter account: "Jason's sexuality doesn't change the fact that he is a great friend and was a great teammate."

Kidd played with Collins in New Jersey for seven seasons.

Kidd's support is noteworthy because many have wondered how male athletes would react once one of their colleagues announced that he is gay.

Collins' announcement was met with public support from around the NBA. Kobe Bryant, Doc Rivers, David Stern and Wizards executive Ernie Grunfeld all issued statements in support of Collins.