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Wins have been few and very far between for the Brooklyn Nets this season. But when veteran forward Trevor Booker put on his black-and-white jersey Friday night, he also had a personal goal in mind: put Rudy Gobert on a poster.

"Just try to dunk on him," Booker said with a grin before the game. "That's my ultimate goal at the end of the day."

Booker and Gobert were teammates for two seasons in Utah before the former signed in New York as a free agent last summer, and they remain friends. That Booker wants so badly to dunk on his buddy, it should be said, is a sign of respect.

"His growth is tremendous," Booker said. "From the first time I ever got to play with him in practice, he's grown a lot. He's a for sure double-double every night now. He's, in my eyes, one of the best defensive players in the NBA."

Gobert, meanwhile, wouldn't expect anything less from Booker.

"Of course he's going to try," Gobert said with a smile. "… The thing I love about Book is his competitiveness. He's a guy who has a lot of pride and plays hard every game. He's not scared to do the dirty work. He doesn't just care about himself. He cares about helping your team win."

For his part, Booker believes Gobert robbed him of his only for a poster dunk during the first meeting between the Jazz and Nets this season.

"I can't help it he was scared to jump," Booker said. "The one dunk I had, he just looked at it."

Morale boost

Coming off a season-high 15 points on Wednesday, guard Danté Exum said he's feeling more confident in his game — and he's seeing more confidence from his coach.

"I've made a couple mistakes and he left me out there," Exum said. "Seeing that gives me a bit more confidence to play a bit more freely and try a few more things out."

Injury report

Shooting guard Rodney Hood missed a second consecutive game — his ninth over this team's past 12 games — on Friday. Hood missed seven straight games before the all-star break with a sprained ligament and a bone bruise in his right knee. After three games back, Hood has developed soreness in the knee. Forward Joe Johnson was also sidelined Friday because of a groin injury.

"My understanding is there's just soreness," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said, "and we want to make sure it's not something that lingers."

Moving up

With two blocks in the first quarter, Gobert tied Paul Millsap (520) for seventh on the Jazz's all-time swats list.

afalk@sltrib.com Twitter: @aaronfalk