P-w-w-wong! The Pistons couldn't dodge Kidd's last toss
Nets 76, Pistons 74
Eastern Conference
Finals Game
1 File
A sludgy game of runs and droughts swings
from Nets domination (18 first quarter fast break points, up by 6) to
Piston domination (12-point 3rd quarter by NJ, Pistons up by 8), back
to Nets domination again (21-4 NJ run from end of third until 4 minutes
were left in 4th), and finally to a game that was up for grabs. Tied with
22.2 seconds left, Jason Kidd patiently dribbled time off the clock, then
hit an improbable baseline jumper over Mehmet Okur after being chased
into a corner by Chauncey Billups. Detroit had 1.4 seconds to respond,
but Okur missed two chances at putting in a lobbed inbounds pass from
Tayshaun Prince. Pistons only score 11 points in the 4th and the Nets
steal Game 1 in the Motor City.
• Box
Score
Eastern Conference Finals Record: Nets lead
series 1 - 0.
Game 1: Nets 76, Pistons 74
Nets High Men:
• Points: Kenyon
Martin, 16.
• Assists: Jason
Kidd, 7.
• Rebounds: Jason
Collins,10.
• Steals: Kenyon
Martin, 4.
• Turnovers: Jason
Kidd, 4.
• Blocks: Kenyon
Martin and Aaron Williams each had
3.
• FG Percentage: Kenyon
Martin, 57.1% (8 - 14).
Nets Team Stats:
• FG Percentage: 39.7%
• FT Percentage: 68.4%
• Rebounds: 48
• Rebound Differential: +5
• Turnovers: 14
• Turnover Differential: +1
• Bench
Points Differential: -6
The Kidd Effect:
• Nets Players in Double Digit Scoring:
3
• Nets Fast Break Points: 28
• Kidd's FG Percentage: 37.5%
(6 - 19).
• Scoring
Differential Kidd in the game: +3
• Scoring
Differential Kidd out (Anthony Johnson at PG): -1
• Triple
Doubles this Season: 5
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Dodge Ball
You remember Dodge Ball (at least, those of us about 18 or older, from a prehistoric era in which it was totally acceptable to intentionally try to injure or maim an opponent in the name of exercise): two teams on opposite sides of the gym floor, each trying to eliminate the other with a series of hard tosses. Last one standing wins.
That someone was our hero Jason Kidd, he of the last second bomb-blast launch from the corner with 1.4 seconds to play over the much-bigger Mehmet Okur, which secured a huge road win against the Pistons. Despite a subpar shooting game from Kidd, the Nets won their seventh straight playoff game, take a 1 - 0 series lead, and assure themselves of at least a split in Detroit.
The Nets took all the best the rigorously defensive Pistons could throw at them, and although they picked up plenty of welts and bruises along the way, toughed out this game of runs. The first quarter featured the Nets weeding out the weak and feeble, with a running game that took off after a bunch of misses. Kidd was seemingly everywhere, with a basket and five assists as the Nets blew out to an early 18 - 6 lead. The Pistons contributed with 6 turnovers and a field goal drought more than 4 minutes long. Only their bench could save the Pistons from getting nailed in the head, as Mehmet "Net Killer" Okur ran off a personal string of 8 points within two minutes to pull his team within 6 points after one.
The Nets would show signs of falling prey to "sludgeball" in the second quarter. Both teams found it difficult to get anything flowing offensively. The Pistons made a run early in the quarter while Kidd was resting, pulling to within one, 25 - 24, before Kidd would restore order, if not find his shot (Kidd would make 3 of his first 5 shots, then miss 8 straight shots before making one at the end of the third quarter) and lead the Nets to a seven point half-time advantage. New Jersey continued to do a great job on Detroit's finest players: Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince and Corliss Williamson combined for 10 points, while Okur and Richard Hamilton combined for 22 of the 36 first half points. Kidd, Martin and Jefferson combined for 27 of the Nets 43 points and New Jersey had 18 first half fast break points. The Nets were surviving anything thrown at them with nary a false step, and playing the game to their liking.
Things would come crashing to the gym floor in the third quarter. The Pistons would notch up the defense, dial down the speed, and take the Nets out of their usual attack mode. After a Jefferson free throw gave the Nets a 47 - 42 lead, the Nets found themselves turning the ball over and getting none of the lucky bounces. When a Hamilton desperation heave from three with the shot clock running down bounced as high as the 24 second clock, straight back down off the glass and into the basket to give the Pistons a 49 - 47 lead (their first since 4 - 2), the good times were over for NJ in Detroit. With the crowd now back at full throttle, the Pistons sped off to a 14 - 8 run to end the quarter behind the scoring of Hamilton and the rebounding of Ben Wallace (game high 21 rebounds). The Pistons threatened to end the quarter with a 10-point lead before two Lucious Harris free throws cut it back to eight.
Down by eight, on the road, and not playing at all like the dash-and-dodge crew that opened this one, the Nets needed to regain control of the tempo. And regain they did, as the Pistons turned colder than a Detroit Spring in the face of tough Nets defense. The Nets went on an immediate 10 - 0 run spanning the end of the third and the first three minutes of the fourth to tie the game at 63. A questionable flagrant foul was called on Okur guarding Rodney Rogers, who hit both free throws before an Aaron Williams runner gave the Nets a 4-point turnaround and all the momentum. With the Pistons in early foul trouble, picking up their fifth not more than three minute in, Kidd went on the attack, and along with Kerry Kittles, bought the Nets a 7-point lead with just over three minutes remaining. The Nets had this one firmly in their grasp, correct?
Wrong. The Nets would shift into their "prevent" offense, with Kidd missing badly, Collins losing the ball to Ben Wallace the moment he put the ball on the floor, and Kittles missing a jumper. The Pistons, who would not score a field goal for over 6 minutes, from a Richard Hamilton lay-in with 7:45 to play until Hamilton scored on a runner (and was fouled) with :55 to play, were not dead. Corliss Williamson made two free throws, getting the Pistons to within 5 points. Tayshaun Prince would get fouled and convert one of two free throws, Nets lead down to four. Hamilton would break the field goal drought (the Pistons had three of longer than four minutes – talk about an ugly offense) and pull the Pistons to within two points with less than a minute left, but missed a very important free throw after getting fouled. Finally, with 22 seconds to play, Billups was fouled and tied the game at 74.
The Nets would play this one to win or for overtime, with Kidd running down the shot clock to around 7 seconds to go before making his move. Even with his shooting stats at 5 for 18, it was all about Kidd. Kidd moved right, with Billups on his heels, before running into Okur, who stood tall, stretched out his arms as high as they would go, and jumped. Kidd, on the run, launched a fall-away jumper from about 20 feet away. And connected with 1.4 seconds on the clock. An amazing Net win, correct?
Not yet. With 1.4 seconds to play, the Pistons tried to inbound but were forced to call time-out when Prince couldn't find anybody open. On their second attempt, Prince lofted a pass toward the basket and the waiting Okur, who missed on the tip-in attempt but got his own rebound. His put-back as time expired bounced around the rim, and came off.
The Nets survive the rough, tough Pistons, dodge a third quarter meltdown, weather sludgeball, and knock the bully off his feet on his home court. Can't wait for Game 2.
Gym Rats
Smash Mouth - The Nets opened up the game by bashing the hell out of Detroit with their fast break. That wound up being the difference in the game, those 18 first quarter fast break points. The Pistons would be quite successful slowing down the Nets the rest of the way (the Nets would finish with a fast break point advantage of 28 to 4), so the first quarter cast a long shadow.
Big Three Bash Their Way - Of course, the Nets' Big Three of Jason Kidd (15 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 4 turnovers and that game winning shot), Kenyon Martin (team high 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks in a game-high 46 minutes) and Richard Jefferson (11 points, including 8 in that critical first quarter, 7 rebounds) scored the first 18 points (Kidd 6, Martin 4 and Jefferson 8 on four fast-break dunks) and set the tone. Even though the rest of the game would be anything but fast breaks, the Nets set up the fear of the break in the Pistons' minds, and it took them awhile to recover. Now, the Nets need to use this freight-train approach again in Game 2 to take away the Pistons feared defense.
From The Pine To The Hardwood - The Nets bench was outscored 27 - 21 (mostly because of Okur's 12 points, with none coming in the second half) but played a critical role in this one. Williams only scored 4 points but grabbed 6 rebounds and had 4 blocked shots in only 20 minutes. Harris played only 12 minutes because of foul trouble but scored 8 points. Even Rodney Rogers played well, scoring 7 points and hitting the Nets' only three in 17 minutes. And Anthony Johnson gave the Nets 5 serviceable minutes backing up Kidd, letting just a point slip off the Nets' lead. Since the Piston bench is so deep, the Nets bench will have to continue to play well for the Nets to win.
Underrated Nets Defense - I know the Pistons are the best defensive team in the NBA, and are exceedingly offensively challenged at times, but the Nets did a great job keeping their up-til-now successful role players Prince (7 points, 2 - 10 shooting in 36 minutes) and Corliss Williamson (8 points, 2 - 10 shooting in 36 minutes) from going off. Great defensive work on Prince by Richard Jefferson. In fact, the Pistons shot only 35% and only two players, Richard Hamilton and Mehmet Okur, shot better than 50% from the field. The Pistons, with the game on the line, scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and made only two field goals in 19 attempts. Nice work by the underrated Nets' defense.
Rebounds and Free Throws - How were the Pistons able to hang around in this one if they couldn't get a bucket for over 15 minutes of the game? Free throws. The Pistons made 7 more free throws (and attempted 11 more) than the Nets (the Nets committed 11 more fouls as Detroit was much more successful attacking the interior than New Jersey was). Good thing Detroit only shot 66.7% from the line. At least the rebounding edge was significant for the Nets: they out-rebounded the Pistons 48 - 43 despite Wallace's 22 boards. Great work by the unsung Jason Collins (10 boards) as well.
RJ or Van Horn? - I'll have more to say on this subject shortly, but it went mostly unnoticed that Richard Jefferson continues to pick up his game as Keith Van Horn crashed and burned his way out of the playoffs. Van Horn's swan song against the Pistons in the Sixers' Game 6 loss on Friday night? 2 points, 10 rebounds, 4 turnovers and a foul-out in 45 minutes. For the playoffs, Van Horn averaged 10. 4 points on 38% shooting, 7.5 rebounds and 33.5 minutes. Jefferson? Thus far he's averaged 16.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Still pine for VH, anyone?
Road Warriors - The Nets had lost 15 of 17 in Detroit coming into this one. Just like in the hostile Fleet Center against the Celtics, their regular season road woes failed to haunt Kidd and the Nets. That's the stuff that champions are made of.
Motor City Madness
The Nets run hot, then cold, then hot again, before another fade-out is arrested by a crazy Jason Kidd jumper over a seven-footer. The Pistons almost tie the game with a last second 'oop to a rookie on an inbounds. What a start to this Eastern Conference Finals.
- Joe
Champagne's Favorite Plays
In elementary school, when our phys. ed. teacher wanted our attention, he used to toss his keys at us across the gym floor. That always used to scare the crap out of us. This game reminded me of those grim days...there wasn't a ton of excitement – until that shocking shot – but we survived:
1) That Kidd-to-Martin 'oop in the fast-break 1st quarter when it looked like Detroit should just concede the series now.
2) Kidd makes a steal in the first, gets the ball downcourt to a wide-open, unopposed Richard Jefferson, who skies in for a windmill jam.
3) That nutty Lucious Harris jumper in the second quarter, where he ran under the basket, turned around, and hit.
4) Kenyon Martin's second block on Tayshaun Prince, about 3 or 4 minutes into the 4th quarter, keeping the Pistons scoreless during that amazing Nets run.
5) Kerry Kittles' 4th quarter steal from Chauncey Billups which lead directly to a Kenyon Martin slam, and a 6-point Nets lead, with 5:43 to go.
6) G-diddly-damn that Jason Kidd game-winner was unbelievable! Billups chased him into the corner, and it looked like Okur, coming down the baseline, had him swallowed up. From ABC's angle, you couldn't even see Kidd anymore. Just an orange ball launching into the air, getting a bit of rim, and sinking.
- Champagne
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