Nets Stick to New Year's Resolution Among other talents, Kevin Garnett has shown a knack for coining evocative nicknames for his Nets teammates. Earlier this year, there was "Picasso," a moniker he gave to Paul Pierce, whose scoring plays are often quite artful. On Monday arose "Joe Jesus," a sobriquet he bestowed upon Joe Johnson, the quiet, clutch shooting guard, whose 23 points led the Nets to a 91-86 win over the Atlanta Hawks at Barclays Center. "He might not be there when you call on him," Garnett said. But he's there when you need him. It was a funny and fitting description of Johnson, who has flitted in and out of view this season, struggling, at times, to make his presence felt but popping up at other times to save the Nets in moments of despair. Johnson entered Monday's game averaging only 7 points a game over his previous five contests while shooting 30.0 percent in that stretch. He did, however, hit a shot at the buzzer on Jan. 2 to lift the Nets over the Oklahoma City Thunder. And he was clutch again Monday, recording his highest point total since exploding for 37 on Dec. 16 and helping the Nets overcome the absence of point guard Deron Williams, who was ruled out before the game with a recurrence of an ankle injury that has plagued him all season. "We leaned on him a little bit tonight, with Deron out," Coach Jason Kidd said of Johnson. We went to him a lot more, and he responded. DeMarre Carroll dunked on a fast break to give the Hawks a 1-point lead with 6 minutes 35 seconds remaining. But after a timeout, Johnson made a 3-pointer, Shaun Livingston finished a breakaway dunk and the Nets did not trail again. Johnson dominated the ball in the second half and worked mostly in isolation down the stretch. He scored 9 of his points in the fourth quarter and shot 10 for 22 over all from the field. "Shooting is an art, man," Johnson said. I've been doing a lot of aiming, really trying to make it instead of just really shooting it, just letting the ball go. In that fourth quarter, that's what Jason Terry kept telling me: "Just shoot the ball." " Mirza Teletovic went 4 for 9 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points. Andrei Kirilenko, who had not played more than 17 minutes this season, played a little more than 21 on Monday, galvanizing his team with his all-action play. He had 8 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds. The Hawks are one game above .500 but nevertheless hold the Eastern Conference's third-best record. In that way, it represented a big win for the Nets, and it lifted their spirits on an otherwise worrying day. Kidd revealed before tipoff that Williams had called the team trainer Tim Walsh on Sunday night to inform him that his ankle had become swollen. Williams did not attend the team's shootaround Monday morning and instead had a magnetic resonance imaging exam. Kidd called the injury a sprained left ankle. Kidd said the Nets were being cautious keeping Williams out and declined to place a timetable on the injury. Whatever the case, Williams's absence extended a worrisome pattern. Williams, who played through ankle issues all last season, sprained his right ankle this past September and missed the team's first six preseason games. He first sprained his left ankle Nov. 15 against the Phoenix Suns and missed two games. He then reinjured that ankle Nov. 20 against the Charlotte Bobcats and sat out the next nine games. Williams revealed last week that he was playing hurt, although he declined to offer further details. That he played down the issue seemed reasonable, as he appeared to be rounding into top form on the court. He scored 50 total points and shot 63.0 percent in his last two games, both wins, when the Nets employed a small, dual-point-guard lineup to liberate him a bit from ball-handling duties. Williams was not available to the news media Monday. Even without Williams, Kidd stuck to his preferred new small lineup - starting Pierce at power forward - inserting guard Alan Anderson into the vacant lineup spot. It was the 16th starting lineup in 34 games for the Nets, who used 13 lineups through all 82 games last season. The Nets face a stern test coming up, with the Golden State Warriors visiting Wednesday and the Miami Heat coming through Brooklyn on Friday. "We've been playing some good teams, and we have some better teams coming here, and it'll be a good test for us," Garnett said. I'm looking forward to it. It will also be a chance to conjure up some new nicknames.