Yes, they still play games and in fact, they will play one Friday night in Brooklyn. The lowly Bobcats will be at the Barclays Center for the beginning of the P.J. Carlesimo Era, as long or short as it will be. It will be his fourth NBA coaching gig, following tours in Portland, Golden State and Seattle/Oklahoma City. Carlesimo has three rings from his time in San Antonio and served as an assistant coach on the Olympic gold medal winning 1992 Dream Team. He also took a decent Seton Hall team to the 1989 NCAA Finals, losing in overtime.

Not a bad resume, but the bigger issue is how long Carlesimo stays. Is he in the head coaching chair for two games this weekend, two weeks for the rest of the year? The betting is the middle option. All that aside, the 63-year-old Carlesimo (four years younger than the guy in L.A.the Nets are looking at) will be charged with pushing the Nets back into the winning column after two losses to Boston and Milwaukee. The Bobcats look to be a willing victim.

Charlotte has lost 16 straight. That is not a typo. After a surprising start, the Bobcats have dropped all but one of their road games and are at or near the bottom of a staggering number of statistical categories, particularly on defense. They are 30th in, among other things: average margin of victory (-8.9), opponent points per game, opponent assists per game, opponent field goal percentage, opponent blocks per game, opponent first quarter scoring and opponent second quarter scoring.

They do have Kemba Walker and Ramon Sessions, but don't have Byron Mullens, who is out (ankle sprain). Hakim Warrick starts for Charlotte in his place.

As for the Nets, they were supposed to be completely healthy but Kris Humphries has not recovered from his mild abdominal strain and Toko Shengelia has the flu. Deron Williams wrist is better after a rest in Wisconsin but he is a game time decision.

• Brooklyn Nets Game Notes - Brooklyn Nets
• Charlotte Bobcats Game Notes - Charlotte Bobcats
• Bobcats at Nets - December 28, 2012 - Alan Ferguson - STATS
  
• P.J. Carlesimo, Nets Interim Coach, Puts Choke in Past - Harvey Araton - New York Times
• Brooklyn Nets turn to P.J. Carlesimo - Filip Bondy - NY Daily News
  
• Slumping Brooklyn Nets Fire Coach Avery Johnson - Howard Beck
• Johnson canned; Jax on Nets’ radar - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
• Honeymoon over for Deron, Prok - Mike Vaccaro - New York Post
• Swoon doomed Avery - Fred Kerber - New York Post
  
• Brooklyn Nets Fire Avery Johnson - Chris Herring - Wall Street Journal
• Popper: Wherever Nets go, dysfunction follows - Steve Popper - The Record
• As Brooklyn Nets fire Avery Johnson, GM Billy King's throne is unsteady - Dave D'Alessandro - Star-Ledger
• Unrealistic expectations from Prokhorov doomed Avery - Ken Berger - CBS Sports
• Nets' Avery Johnson couldn't meet expectations -- and paid with his job - Chris Mannix - Sports Illustrated
  
• Carlisle disappointed the Nets fired Avery Johnson - Dwain Price - Fort Worth Star-Telegram
• Celtics coach Doc Rivers laments the firing of close friend Avery Johnson - Gary Washburn - Boston Globe
• Avery Johnson Runs Cold With Point Guards - Jeff Caplan - NBA.com
  
• Prokhorov sacks Nets coach - Russia Today