Numbers add up for Avery Johnson

Scott Cacciola of the Wall Street Journal writes Saturday about the the way Avery Johnson uses statistics to prepare for games and make adjustments within. Some nights, the numbers don't matter much if the players aren't cooperating and nothing seems to be working. Like Friday night.

Still, Cacciola reports that Johnson, a student of deep stats, sees a number of revealing numbers in reports from the two staffers who spend a lot of their time in front of computer screens.

Deron Williams and fellow guard C.J. Watson should avoid each other at all costs. When they are on the court together, the Nets are getting outscored by 21.8 points per 48 minutes—by far the worst two-man combination on the team.

He's not the first to notice that.

Pair [Jerry Stackhouse] with Joe Johnson (plus-23.7 per 48 minutes), or Reggie Evans (plus-21.6), or Watson (plus-23.8), or Williams (plus-16.6), and there's a good chance that things will go well for Brooklyn.

He doesn't completely rely on numbers, Cacciola reports. " "I'll take Deron shooting with one arm," Johnson said. "That's how much confidence I have in him."

• Crunching Brooklyn's Numbers - Scott Cacciola - Wall Street Journal