The Nets enjoy some pain with their 2 - 0 series-lead pleasure
Nets 104, Celtics 95
Round 2
Game 2
File
Paul Pierce plays like a giant (tripled-doubling
with 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds) while his partner in crime
Antoine Walker plays like a dwarf (7 points off 3 - 15 shooting, and 9
rebounds). Nets pressure the ball effectively to force 21 Celtics turnovers.
When Boston opens the fourth on a 14 - 0 run, cutting the Nets lead to
2, the Nets reapply their defensive force and finally hit some shots (after
a 6:46 FG drought). All 5 Nets starters get in double figure scoring,
with Richard Jefferson (25 points, 6 rebounds) and Jason Kidd (23 points,
11 rebounds and 8 assists) leading the way.
• Box
Score
Round 2 Record: Nets lead series 2 - 0.
Game 1: Nets
97, Celtics 93
Game 2: Nets 104, Celtics 95
Nets High Men:
• Points: Richard
Jefferson, 25.
• Assists: Jason
Kidd, 8.
• Rebounds: Jason
Kidd, 11.
• Steals: Jason
Collins, 3.
• Turnovers: Jason
Kidd, 6.
• Blocks: Jason
Collins, 1.
• FG Percentage: Anthony
Johnson, 66.7% (2 - 3).
Nets Team Stats:
• FG Percentage: 44.3%
• FT Percentage: 81.8%
• Rebounds: 44
• Rebound Differential: +5
• Turnovers: 17
• Turnover Differential: -4
The Kidd Effect:
• Nets Players in Double Digit Scoring:
5
• Nets Fast Break Points: 23
• Kidd's FG Percentage: 60%
(6 - 10).
• Scoring
Differential Kidd in the game: +13
• Scoring
Differential Kidd out (Anthony Johnson at PG): -4
• Triple
Doubles this Season: 5
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Kings Of Pain
Maybe the Nets take some sort of perverse delight watching us suffer. With a 16-point, end-of-third-quarter lead, the Nets switched into pleasure mode and let the Celtics back in this one. A 14 -0 run with Jason Kidd sitting out the start of the fourth turned this into a two point game merely four minutes into the quarter. But Richard Jefferson (team high 25 points) and Kidd (23 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists) took over at the end and offset Paul Pierce's triple double (32 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists) to assure the Nets a 2- 0 lead in the series. Antoine Walker once again gets whipped mercilessly by the Nets (a sad 7 points on 3 - 15 shooting in 45 minutes for this "All-Star").
The Nets broke from the gate slowly, with the Celtics finding a renewed passion for defense and rebounding and using a 7 - 0 run to take an early 5 point lead. The Nets slowly found themselves being driven to the outside, and after Kenyon Martin (14 points, 10 boards) scored two straight buckets to pull the Nets to within one, the Celtics went back on the attack and rode Pierce (9 points in the first) to a 25 - 17 lead, what would be their largest of the game. Strangely (or for you paranoids out there, unbelievably), the Celtics were called for their first foul with less than one minute to play. The quarter ended after Jefferson (8 points in the quarter) nailed a jumper to put the Nets down by 6.
The Nets opened the second looking to grind it out with Kidd resting, and it was his replacement, Anthony Johnson, that sparked the Nets to a 14 - 5 run to give the Nets a 3-point lead. AJ had two straight scores in the face of tough Celtic D, and played well enough to get Kidd about 7 minutes of rest...at the end of his stint the Celtics lead was only 3. Kidd took things from there, finally getting the fast break working after being stalled by good outside shooting and better rebounding by the Celtics. After Pierce gave Boston a 4 point lead, 40 - 36 with 4:30 to play in the quarter, Kidd started spanking the Celtics for their bad behavior, turning up the intensity and the pressure after his long rest.
After Kenyon Martin made one of two free throws, Kidd stole the ball from Pierce and was fouled, making both free throws to pull the Nets to within one. After an 'oop from Kidd to Martin and a Jefferson driving dunk, the Nets had a 6 point lead and all the momentum at the half.
The third quarter was as beautiful as the first was ugly, with the Nets opening by hitting 8 of their first 10 shots and finding themselves with a 16 point lead around the halfway mark of the quarter. And it came from everywhere: on the break, inside, outside, you name it. The Celtics were by now drained of any energy, Kidd kept attacking, and things continued to go the Nets way. A pretty break that went from Kidd to RJ to Martin for the slam that will make all the highlight reels was followed later on by four consecutive Kidd baskets: a three, a drive off a Martin block of a Celtic dunk attempt , a jumper, and a putback. The Nets had the game seemingly under control with a 16-point lead to end the third quarter.
Scott decided to rest the white-hot Kidd to start the fourth, and it nearly cost the Nets a ball game and Netsfans a coronary. Netsfans clutched their chests and cried out, "it's Game 3 [of last season's Eastern Conference Finals] all over again!" after the Celtics quickly, and I do mean quickly, strung together a 14 - 0 run in the first four plus minutes of the fourth to pull to within 2 points, 82 - 80. Another long Nets FG drought (this one was more than 6 minutes in length).
Without Kidd, the Nets relaxed and stopped attacking or playing any kind of defense, and it was frightening to watch. They couldn't find Pierce (unlike Game 1, Pierce had 11 points in the fourth), and when they did, he calmly passed off to one of his wide-open teammates (like Tony Battie, who had 15 points, seemingly all on passes from Pierce). Oh, the torture!
Kidd would return quickly, and Jefferson ended the scoreless drought with two free throws, but it would be almost seven minutes before they could manage an actual field goal (a Jefferson jumper gave the Nets a 5 point lead, 87 - 82 with 5:21 to go). The Celtics would never get closer again, as Kittles then hit a huge three from the corner to bring the Net lead to 8 points, 90 - 82, breaking the will of Boston. A last-gasp attempt by Pierce to single-handedly bring Boston back failed, and the Nets had a parade of free throws over the last 4 minutes to close things out.
Can't wait to hear how much grousing the Celtics do over this one. Game 3 on Friday in Boston, folks. Enjoy the sweet pain of another Nets win.
Sadomasochism
RJ And The Kidd - Game 2 belonged to two players who had what they would consider subpar games in Game 1 (though the rest of us are just happy they're on our side). Richard Jefferson (13 points in the second half, 8 in the fourth) and Jason Kidd (18 second half points, 12 in the third) were huge in the second half, helping the Nets bring the whip down on the Bob Ryan's Leprechauns.
24 - That's about how many minutes of this one were vintage Nets basketball. The second and third quarters saw the Nets outscore the overwhelmed Celtics by 22 points. In the first and fourth quarters the Nets were outscored by 13. Give the Nets credit for toughing out brutal Celtic interior defense (the Celtics won the battle inside, with points in the paint of 52 - 32) and not falling into the trap of shooting repeatedly from outside – even though when they did, they nailed their threes: the Nets shot 7 - 10 from what is usually a 3-point dungeon for them.
AJ And The Dominators - This one was more about the starters – the Celtic bench outscored NJ's 18 - 16 – but a great job by Anthony Johnson and the boys keeping the run going in the second quarter while Kidd was resting (and look at the world of good it did Kidd to play only 38 minutes, leaving him with a full tank in the fourth quarter). Johnson's 4 points came on consecutive shots with the game still firmly in the Celtics hands, shifting the momentum. Lucious Harris (3 points on 1 of 6) and Rodney Rogers (5 points) then hit huge back to back treys to give the Nets a 3 point lead.
Freaky Dekey - In this masochistic game, was I the only one out there that wondered if perhaps Dikembe Mutombo could have helped with that leaky interior defense by the Nets in the game? [YES! - Champagne]. He didn't need to play 20 minutes, but how about a four or five minute stint to knock the Celtics backward and force them to make some jumpers? Maybe it's Pierce that Byron Scott is afraid of. Or maybe it's just an ego thing with Byron at this point.
Rebounds And Turnovers - The Nets were getting killed on the boards in the first half, making Joe wonder what sort of speech the Celtics received from Coach Jim O'Brien (Joe imagines it was "play some g-damned defense and hit the glass, you pansies!"). But once again by the end of things the Nets were +5 in rebounding by the end of this one. And how about all those turnovers? 21 for the Celts, 17 for the Nets, 6 apiece by the superstars Pierce and Kidd. A hard-fought defensive battle.
Disrespected But Deservedly So - "When is this building going to sell out?" and "This crowd is lacking some passion" were only two of the comments that TNT analyst Danny Ainge made at the end of the game about the Continental Arena crowd. So what gives, Netsfans? The basketball nation already knows that Netsfans are long suffering, but lacking passion? We here at JNF know better...
Pierce And What Army - This guy has to carry the Celtics more often than perhaps any other superstar player in the NBA carries his team except for maybe Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson. Pierce was once again spectacular at times, but what is up with Antoine Walker? Is it mental or physical? We'd like to believe that KMart has done all the damage, but maybe the guy is just worn down from carrying all that weight. His own body weight, that is. Walker was again horrible, a non-factor, and even Jim O'Brien would agree that the Celtics have no shot if they can't get something from Walker.
Dominate-Tricks
Champagne's favorite Game 2 moments.
1) Richard Jefferson dashing around Walter McCarty for a slam early in the 1st quarter. McCarty would not be able to repeat his freak 14-point, 4 - 6 from 3-point land shooting Game 1 performance...instead "McCahhty" (as he's known to Tommy Heinsohn) played like a stumblebum, traveling repeatedly and turning the ball over whenever he tried to run with the ball in the open court. Maybe his nickname should be "Set Shot." Because he sure can't dribble.
2) A Martin-to-Jefferson OOP in the first quarter, immediately following a McCarty traveling call.
3) That crazy Kenyon Martin flying hook shot that dropped with 3:10 left in the first. Panicky, and in traffic. How'd he sink that?
4) Lucious Harris' lone field goal, which was a 3-jack in the 2nd quarter that bounced up and off the rim and fell back in.
5) Jason Collins steals an inbounds pass and slams it home in the 2nd quarter. The Nets' 5th option decides to create his own opportunities.
6) Jason Kidd's OOP toss to Kenyon Martin was not only on-the-break, but a no-looker. Crazy, man.
7) Kenyon Martin stealing the ball from Paul Pierce in the 4th. Pierce, by about this point, had to be exhausted from trying to play Antoine Walker's game as well as his own.
8) Jason Kidd hits the floor for the ball and rolls it to Martin, who goes up with it and gets fouled, during the tough "fight the Celtics' comeback" stretch in the 4th.
9) Joe Netsfan's confused insinuations in this review (and in other reviews of solid Nets wins) that Byron Scott is a bad coach. Scott got Kidd some rest at the start of the 4th while holding a 16-point lead...so which is it Joe, a good thing or a bad thing? He can't seem to decide until he gets a memo from NetsNut full of "insider" dish about how everybody on the planet including Scott's children secretly hate him...and question his substitution patterns. Meanwhile, the Nets keep rolling through the playoffs, despite Byron Scott's supposed ineptitude. Some Netsfans can't handle success, apparently...there might have been too many Don Casey-style coaching years that longtime fans like Joe have suffered through for them to ever accept that things might really be all right in that department, for once. Get some rest, Joe!
- Champagne
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?
What a week it's been for the Nets. Bob Ryan wants to smack Joumana Kidd. Meanwhile, the Nets are using the Celtics as their Bob Ryan voodoo doll, smacking the life out of their playoff advancement hopes. Tonight's stars were Richard Jefferson and Jason Kidd, but this win was due to more than just one or two individual contributions. So, can the Nets win up in Boston? Well, after the last couple of days I'd say, hell yes. Will the Boston fans want to hurt the Nets and Netsfans? Well, maybe Bob Ryan can smack them for us. It should be a beauty in Beantown, that's for sure.
- Joe
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