"Nets center Brook Lopez skipped rope, ran and did some jumping Thursday and said everything was positive as he continues to rehab from his broken foot.

"We're going to start working on some lateral movement, like slides, sometime soon," he said.

Lopez said he was excited to take the latest step in his rehabbing — he ran for the first time Monday — and figures he'll need to do some lateral movement and pivoting before he could potentially begin to return to practice. Lopez said he didn't know when he might return.

"I just took a little pocket schedule to Timmy (Walsh, the Nets' athletic trainer) and told him to point to a game (I could return for)," Lopez said. "He folded it up and put it in his pocket."

Lopez suffered a broken fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot Dec. 21 in the preseason game at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks and had surgery two days later. The initial estimate was that he would return in six to eight weeks, and today was six weeks since the surgery."