As the Bucks tinkered in preparation for tonight’s Game 2 against the Nets, Gary Payton stewed.

Saturday’s series opener at the Meadowlands brought out one of Payton’s poorest postseason performances. Scoreless until midway through the final quarter, the man acquired to lead Milwaukee deep into the spring led his team only in the turnover column.

To reverse the Game 1 result, the Bucks need Payton to shuffle his stats, with the big numbers in the points and assists columns.

His teammates and coaches seem certain that will happen this evening. “He’ll come out and show who he is,” Bucks coach George Karl said. “Gary knows we probably can’t win any games with the way he played.”

The final numbers – despite 10 assists, he scored just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting – make the seven-time All-Star look close to being done. In certain stretches, Payton looked especially lost on the floor.

During the second quarter, the first-year Buck shot an airball, had a layup swatted by Kenyon Martin, and sailed three passes past teammates and out of bounds.

No wonder the Nets crowd, who watched Payton miss his first eight shots and commit five turnovers, cheered his first basket with 4:13 left in the game.

“I’ve never seen him have a game like that,” forward Desmond Mason said. “He’ll be prepared to play [tonight].” Payton’s past shows he can rebound from a lackluster playoff game.

Last season, his Sonics lost at San Antonio to open a first-round series, but Payton scored 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead Seattle to a 98-90 Game 2 win.

Don’t forget the 1996 Western Conference Finals, in which Payton helped the Sonics shake a 35-point Game 6 loss in Utah to win Game 7 and reach the NBA Finals.

Karl coached Payton in Seattle that year, and yesterday he asked his star guard to return to his 1996 form. “I just told him he wasn’t aggressive enough [in Game 1],” Karl said. “He needs to be more assertive for us to win.”