The Nets sweep the Leprechauns out with the trash – where they belong
Nets 110, Celtics 101 2OT
Round 2
Game 4
File
A clash of two motivated teams lasts
3 hours and goes into 2 overtimes. Boston shuts down the interior on the
Nets, and miraculously, the Nets' much-maligned half-court offense produces.
The Nets would shoot 50% from the 3-point arc, hitting 11 of 22, while
the point total for Kenyon Martin, Jason Collins, and Aaron Williams was
only 15 at the end of 3 quarters. In a tight back-and-forth game, the
Celts went up by 8 with 4 minutes left in regulation, but the Nets clamp
down to tie. Kenyon Martin (22 points for game) scored all the Nets 7
points in the 1st OT. Antoine Walker had his best game of the series (20
points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 8 - 15 shooting), but fouls out in the
1st OT. By the 2nd OT, Pierce was exhausted, and the Celts go-to guy became...Eric
Williams. Instead of dribbling it out, with the Nets up by 6 with under
24 seconds left in the 2nd OT, Jason Kidd hit a 3 at the buzzer. Revenge...a
dish best served by Jason!
• Box
Score
Round 2 Record: Nets win series 4 - 0.
Game 1: Nets
97, Celtics 93
Game 2: Nets
104, Celtics 95
Game 3: Nets
94, Celtics 76
Game 4: Nets 110, Celtics 101 2OT
Nets High Men:
• Points: Jason
Kidd, 29.
• Assists: Jason
Kidd, 8.
• Rebounds: Jason
Kidd and Kenyon Martin each had 10.
• Steals: Kerry
Kittles and Kenyon Martin each had
3.
• Turnovers: Jason
Kidd, 6.
• Blocks: Kenyon
Martin, 2.
• FG Percentage: Rodney
Rogers, 57.1% (4 - 7).
Nets Team Stats:
• FG Percentage: 43%
• FT Percentage: 73.1%
• Rebounds: 46
• Rebound Differential: -5
• Turnovers: 22
• Turnover Differential: +2
The Kidd Effect:
• Nets Players in Double Digit Scoring:
5
• Nets Fast Break Points: 19
• Kidd's FG Percentage: 37.5%
(9 - 24).
• Scoring
Differential Kidd in the game: +8
• Scoring
Differential Kidd out (Anthony Johnson at PG): +1
• Triple
Doubles this Season: 5
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First Sweep!
The Nets win the first sweep in their NBA playoff history against the hated Boston Celtics.
Hard to tell which was more satisfying for Jason Kidd and the Nets: sending the Celtics "fishing," or shutting up the "Wife-beater!"-chanting FleetCenter drunkies.
All we know is that Jason Kidd played this double-OT thriller like it was a statement game. And we know exactly what he was saying when he launched that 3-pointer at the 2nd OT buzzer, uncontested, with the Nets up by 6 with under 24 seconds left. Kidd could have dribbled it out, but he had something he wanted to say to Boston's ugly fans, to the Boston Globe's Bob Ryan (who went on TV last week and said he'd like "to smack" Kidd's wife, for no reason other than her career annoys him), and to the Celtics' big-talking Antoine Walker. Kidd hit that three, and his gratuitous, metaphorical middle finger was met with nothing but silence by the crowds filing out of the FleetCenter.
A stirring moment for Netsfans that won't be forgotten soon.
Leprechaun Lockout
Get Away from Our Pot of Gold! - It was apparent from the get-go that the Celts were determined to play tough defense and keep the Nets both out of their paint and away from the pot of gold at the end of their season's rainbow, the Eastern Conference Finals – and the potential to return to the Finals itself. It was also apparent that the Nets had shown up loose, confident, and eagle-eyed. Kidd led off scoring with a 3-pointer...which in no way hinted at the deluge from beyond the arc that would occur in the 2nd.
With the Nets down by 2 at the end of the 1st, and having difficulty getting anywhere near the dust-bucket (where they hoped to dump these lame-duck leprechauns), they opened up the 2nd with a 3-pointer from Rodney Rogers. It'd be the first of 4 from Rogers, and also the last: Rogers would score all his 12 points off those 4 fat 3-bombs. When Rogers flagged, Kidd picked up the slack, scoring the last 11 Nets points of the quarter, off 1 jumper and three 3-pointers. Pierce, Walker and Eric Williams also hit 3-balls, and Walker had his best quarter of the series here, scoring 12 points. At half-time the Nets were only up by 1, and Martin, Collins and Williams had combined for a mere 4 points (2 buckets from Martin).
Bashing Their Way Into the Lucky Cave - Very intelligent, these Nets. They realized that their good 2nd quarter luck from 3-ball land was not going to continue. The 3rd quarter was all about the Nets' struggle to get interior buckets. The Nets shot 14 free-throws this quarter, more than half of their total of 26 (hitting 11 of those 14), indicating their determination. While Martin would end the quarter with only 7 points, he turned up his defensive game, as did the entire team. Martin forced a defensive jump ball with Paul Pierce (and won it), stole the ball from Antoine Walker, and after smashing home an alley-'oop toss from Lucious Harris, ended the quarter with a block on Mark Blount. Kenyon had just gotten warmed up.
Rolling Back the Rock, McCarty's Bad Idea - The fourth quarter was a pitched battle, scene of the biggest and best Celtics push, multiple turnovers, and the Nets comeback to tie. When Jason Kidd stole the ball from Tony Delk and Delk clear-path fouled him, the "Wife-beater!" chants swelled in the rank FleetCenter air. Kidd hit the free-throw, but the Nets were still down by 3. On one end, Kittles would shut down Pierce, on the other, Kidd would throw the ball away, then the Celts would lose it, then the Nets would give it right back...after a Delk 3-pointer and 2 Walker free-throws, the Nets were in an 8-point hole with a little over 4 minutes left, not leisurely running their fingers through Eastern Conference gold. They were going to have to fight for their 4th and last win. The Nets went on a 12 - 4 run that featured the buckets and hustle of Kidd (lay-in), Martin (slam off a rebound of his own miss, and a hook-shot), Collins (lay-in after rebounding a missed Kidd lay-in), and Kittles (follow-in of a Jefferson missed shot). Six of those last 12 points came off second opportunities.
The Nets had the ball with the game tied, 16.3 seconds left. Kidd got the ball, lost it to Tony Delk, and then it ended up in Walter McCarty's hands with 3 seconds left. Instead of calling for a time-out and one last short, set play, McCarty launched a long, bad 3-ball attempt.
OT Housecleaning
Tipping Point - The Nets won the tip in the first OT (they also won every tip of every jump ball – there were 4 of them this game), Kidd made a touch-pass to Kenyon Martin, Martin rushed in for a slam, and was fouled. Nets would go up by 3. But Walker got inside for a bucket on the other end, as did Pierce, who was fouled and converted. Nets down 2. Then in quick succession Jason Collins removed the now-dangerous Antoine Walker from the game: Walker charged and was called for an offensive foul (Collins setting his feet outside the dotted line), and Walker fouled Collins going up for a rebound. With 2:51 left in OT, Walker had his 6th foul.
Back came New Jersey...or rather, Kenyon Martin. Kittles dashed in for a reverse lay-up, missed, and Martin tipped it in for the tie. Pierce would hit a jumper, and Martin would hit a jumper, and that would be it. With 26 seconds left, the Nets came off a time-out and got a Martin jumper that hit the rim. With 7.3 seconds left, Jefferson draped himself over Paul Pierce, who missed the Celtics' last shot. We weren't done yet.
Double OT. Well, how about opening it with a Kidd-to-Jefferson alley-oop? No way could tonight's Nets team be accused of "playing not to lose." With Walker fouled out, Battie having left the game in the 4th with a bruised knee, and Paul Pierce simply exhausted (and playing with a hurt calf), it suddenly became "Eric Williams Time" for Boston. Celtics fans would leave the building with the sad sight of Eric Williams missing and missing again as the Nets rolled up their team. A Kerry Kittles 3-pointer gave the Nets a lead they'd keep. Martin would foul out with about 2 minutes left, after getting inside and giving the Nets a 5-point lead...there was nothing left for the Celts to do but foul the Nets. They'd only hit 3 - 6 of their last free-throws...Kidd missed his last 2, but Rodney Rogers secured the rebound with less than 24 seconds left.
Dribble out the clock, right? Kidd waved for the ball urgently as time ticked away. Unguarded, at the buzzer, he nailed a three-pointer...one last statement, one last laugh.
And in the group celebration, there was Anthony Johnson, miming a cast with a fishing rod. The humiliation of the Celtics was complete. So long, Boston.
Cleanup Crew
This was the first-ever Nets playoff sweep, and the first time Boston had been swept in the post-season in 14 years. Let's applaud the remarkable effort this team gave us:
Jason Collins - Smart, superb at the dirty work of taking charges and setting screens, and passing the ball and working for rebounds. His game is still growing, the Nets cannot rely on him for double-digit scoring, and from the line he can be adventurous (although tonight he was 4 - 4)...but he was indispensable to the Nets victory in this series. Bonus points for eliminating Walker from his only good game of the series, in the 1st OT.
Rodney Rogers - Bad regular season? Yes. But he's beginning to bloom now. His second quarter 3-bombs (he'd hit 4 - 5 for the game) were extremely important in keeping the Nets close when they couldn't get near the hole.
Kerry Kittles - Ignore the knocks. Kittles spends all series long chasing the opposing team's best shooter, and still routinely racks up double-digits in points. He has the best steals-to-turnover ratio in the league. The quiet killer had 14 points tonight, but he had huge games in both of these rounds, draining 3-ball after 3-ball. It'd end up that he would hit the game-winner tonight – a not-so-dramatic game-winner – but the winning points nonetheless. A huge factor, vies with Jefferson for 3rd most important Net.
Aaron Williams - Tonight wasn't his best night (4 points, 0 rebounds), but he has often been the best player off the bench, and a godsend when Collins gets in foul-trouble. The start of the 2nd quarter is usually his time to thrive, to hit those jumpers and shoulder his way inside.
Anthony Johnson - Kidd's back-up-by-default in the wake of the Chrisco mistake had a good 6 minutes, reducing the Celts lead by a point under his watch, in a still-tight game. Has played smart and under control, for the most part, and hit some bailout buckets when plays have broken down. An add-on, a patch, that has stuck with us another season. Deserves hearty praise for whatever rest Kidd can safely get.
Lucious Harris - Can drift with nada, then suddenly hit the Big Three. Six points tonight and did not have a good-scoring series, but always has the potential for a breakout game. With Kittles, faced down Payton in Round 1, so he can be counted on to help out against either Detroit or Philly in the EC Finals. Old and smart and will not let us down.
Richard Jefferson - I would say he is just a bit behind where Kenyon Martin was last season: an emerging star. He's beginning to even out, consistency-wise, just when we need it most. His FG shooting percentage for the playoffs is just greater than Shaq's. Next year, if the Nets keep Kidd, they could have 3, count 'em, 3 actual, bonafide stars, on one team.
Kenyon Martin - What can we say? He's arrived. With a baby recently born prematurely to his girlfriend, we could have excused one bad game from Kenyon. Three quarters in, tonight's game looked like it was going to be that one. But what a remarkable turnaround in the 4th and in the OTs. Shut down and shut up Antoine Walker for 3 1/2 games (Walker is capable of 30+, but had only 20 tonight), and sent him packing. Other NBA coaches dislike Martin, for some reason. There is no other excuse for him being left off the NBA All-Defensive 1st Team...and the 2nd. As with Kidd, with Martin: remove him from the equation and the Nets may have gotten to the playoffs, but would never have gotten out of the first round.
Jason Kidd - His series. His post-season. His team. Round 1, he faced his mentor, now his nemesis, in a living legend, Gary Payton. Round 2, he faced hatred from Celtics fans, and rabble-rousing ignorance from a Beantown Blowhard, inexcusably and unthinkingly (and automatically) taken seriously for years, simply because he occasionally goes on TV. To yell his stupidities. Kidd had no one-on-one competition this series – J.R. "Where's my shoe?" Bremer was excused from the end of this in favor of creaky old Bimbo Coles, and Kenny Anderson had been long-ago traded away – and Kidd took full advantage. When was the last time a point guard led in rebounds in a playoff series? He took the jeers in stride, and saved his personal response for the last shot of the last game of the series. Poetic!
Byron Scott - "It's time to mention him as one of the best young coaches in the NBA" - Charles Barkley on Byron Scott, May 12, 2002.
Dummkopfs want to malign the Nets head coach, a guy who instilled this team with a backbone and a killer instinct and a winner's swagger (Kidd did not do this alone). Dummkopfs are talking about Jeff Van Gundy coaching the Nets next year while the Nets are in the midst of 6-game post-season winning streak (okay, it was only 5 as of last Sunday). Nit-picking "Substitution Hags" (fans who want their favorite players – and all "hot" shooters – in the game for every single second, as if they were robots, or jack-off fantasy-league stats who can walk and talk) will have little to say about tonight's rotations, and should have nothing bad to say about his coaching performance in a series the Nets completely dominated. A slow, old, and cranky vet wasn't needed (Mutombo) and Byron correctly didn't play him (Mutombo never fit into this team and never fully learned the system). Rotations shouldn't be decided by committees, management, or fans. Scott gets knocked for running his mouth in the press, but it was admirable the way he voiced the Nets' institutional anger at Bob Ryan's ugly anti-Joumana Kidd comments. Kidd could then just shut up and play.
If Kidd was smart he'd realize he needs Scott as much as Scott needs Kidd. Together, they could be taking this team back to the NBA Finals two years in a row.
Bring on the Pistons. Bring on the Sixers.
- Champagne
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