Joe Netsfan Game x Game 340- Nets 101 , Magic 94

Kidd unlocks the door, VC flies through it and Eddie House burns it down

Nets 101, Magic 94
Game 40 File
Dragging against an undermanned Magic crew, the Nets fall down by 15 in the third quarter before catching fire. A 50 - 20 run spanning the third and fourth quarters keyed by some acrobatics by VC, a long distance dial-up by Eddie House and a Magic eraser on stud Dwight Howard all combine to bring the Nets their fourth straight win and even their record at 20 - 20. On to the West Coast!
• Box Score

Nets Record: 20 - 20
Home Record: 13 - 10
Away Record: 7 - 10
Division Record: 5 - 2
Conf. Record: 16 - 9
Other Game Reviews

Nets High Men:
• Points: Vince Carter, 27.
• Assists: Richard Jefferson, 8.
• Rebounds: Jason Kidd, 8.
• Steals: Jason Kidd, 3.
• Turnovers: Marcus Williams, 3.
• Blocks: Moore, Collins, Nachbar, Robinson and Carter each had 1 .
• FG Percentage: Vince Carter, 43.3% (10 - 23). Nachbar and Moore were each 2 - 3.

Nets Team Stats:
• FG Percentage: 42.3%
• FT Percentage: 78.1%
• Rebounds: 42
• Rebound Differential: -2
• Turnovers: 10
• Opposing Team's Turnovers: 18
• Bench points: 37
• Bench points Differential:-11
• Steals: 9
• Blocks:5
• Points in the Paint: 26
• Double-Doubles: 0.
• Triple-Doubles: 0.

The Kidd Effect:
• Nets Players in Double Digit Scoring: 4
• Nets Fast Break Points: 11
• Kidd's FG Percentage: 37.5% (6 - 16).
• Scoring Differential Kidd in the game: +4
• Scoring Differential Kidd out: +3 (Williams, Carter)
• Double-Doubles this Season: 15
• Triple Doubles this Season:7
• Career Triple Doubles: 82

Nets Media
Bergen Record | Nets
Newark Star-Ledger | Nets
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NY Daily News | NBA
NY Post | Nets
NY Times | Pro Basketball
YES Network | Nets

Nets Team Pages
CNNSI.com | Nets
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Magic Media:
Orlando Sentinel | Magic

Game 40: Nets 101, Magic 94 – January 20, 2007
Burnin' Down The House
The Nets continue to win ballgames, and they continue to win by getting contributions from almost the entire roster. The Nets have now won 9 of their last 11 games, and seem to be getting better with each passing game. The offense has been flowing (for the most part) and they are back to playing Nets defense. And more importantly, they are not relying on Vince to carry the load on the offensive end, as they have been getting consistent scoring from JKidd, RJ, Mikki Moore, Boki Nachbar and now Eddie House.

There was little excitement during the first half of this game, as the Nets appeared to be fatigued from the furious Knicks comeback the previous night at the Garden (one which luckily fell short thanks to Uncle Cliffy’s tip-in with 2 seconds left). The defense was impressive (mainly holding Orlando man child Dwight Howard scoreless) but the offense couldn’t seem to find a rhythm. The Nets entered the half on the losing end of a 48-38 margin.

As the third quarter kicked off – the Nets offense still couldn’t find a rhythm as they found themselves behind 13 points about midway through the quarter. But then the Nets awoke from their slumber and strung together an exciting, energetic 18 minutes of basketball that brought the crowd to their feet multiple times before chalking up another win.

The turnaround really began with just under 7 minutes in the half – when Kidd stroked a 3 pointer to bring the Nets within 8 – the closest they had been since the 3 minute mark of the second quarter. And as has been the Nets MO in the Kidd era – once Kidd starts to warm up, the troops tend to follow. After the Kidd 3 ball – the defense kicked it up another level and forced a Darko Milicic turnover which led to a gravity defying reverse layup by Vinsanity. It was like ballet on a basketball court – and literally brought smiles from not only the Nets but even Hedo Turkoglu had a huge “I can’t believe what I just saw” grin on his face as he ran upcourt.

After RJ left the game and briefly headed back to the locker room, Boki Nachbar got into the scoring column in a big way – hitting back to back 3s to bring the Nets within 3 (59-56) without about 4 minutes to go in the third. Kidd quickly cut the deficit to 1 on a tip in that was pure Jason Kidd – energy, hustle and desire.

Now the crowd was really into this game – and the Nets were eating it up on the floor, as their defense continued to pressure Orlando into bad shots and turnovers. After returning to the game with about 2 minutes left in the quarter – RJ went to work – and quickly proved to everyone that his ankle was feeling fine tonight. After an unsuccessful alley oop from Kidd to RJ, RJ fought for the rebound not once but twice before he could get his shot to fall. That tied the game at 65 – and Eddie House entered the building.

Entering the fourth quarter with a 1 point lead (69-68), Eddie House caught fire from the floor. With only 2 points entering the fourth, he found his shooting touch to light up the Magic to the tune of 15 fourth quarter points (3 3-pointers, 2 jumpers and 2 BIG free throws as the Magic began to comeback with about a minute left). And as he found confidence from his shot – his defense stepped up as well. Fighting through screens, he kept a hand in Travis Diener’s face at all times, really helping to prevent the Magic from matching baskets with the Nets. The Big 3 did the rest of the heavy lifting on offense, while the entire team played lock down team defense – to reach .500 before heading out west – where hopefully the recent success will continue.

House Of Flying Daggers
Dwight Who? – Tonight’s game ball should be awarded to the Jason Collins, Mikki Moore, Cliff Robinson trio – who took Dwight Howard out of this game from the opening tip and limited him to 1 point (on 0-6 from the floor, and 1-2 from the line). Howard has really stepped up his game this season, morphing from the fun loving teenager into an All-Star center in the East, and coming off 17 straight games where he scored in double digits – the Nets big men completely shut him down and dominated this match up, holding Howard to a season low 1 point. Controlling the paint and shutting down Howard was the key to this game – and hopefully a building block for the Nets interior D.

Spreading the Wealth – The Nets are always at their best from an offensive standpoint when they share the ball and make the extra pass to set up a teammate for an easy bucket. Tonight, while no Net player had double digit assist totals, the Nets did an excellent job of looking for the extra pass and creating easy looks for their teammates. RJ led all Nets with 8 assists, while Jason Kidd and Vince Carter chipped in with 7 and 5 assists respectively.

Vinsanity – VC appears to be energized once again, and has begun looking to attack the basket with no fear, rather than settling for jumpers behind the arc. Not only is Vince a better scorer when attacking the basket, but by putting the ball on the floor it opens up easy looks for other guys on the floor. And this has been a major reason for the improved offensive flow and the better ball movement. Aside from this – it is so much cooler watching Vince fly through the air, at times seemingly floating above the court for a second longer than any defender – before converting on some sort of acrobatic floater or reverse or showcasing his All Universe dunking ability.

Coach Frank – I loved Coach Frank’s decision to empty the bench with the game seemingly in hand with a 10 point lead and just under a minute to play. Even though Orlando mounted a comeback through quick shots and even quicker fouls, closing to within 5 with 26 seconds left to play; Coach didn’t panic and stuck with his bench. While this is a major show of confidence in his guys – it is also great experience for the bench – in teaching them how to win in a tight ball game. And this experience could become very important in the second half of the season as the Nets jockey for playoff positioning – especially since this experience came against a very talented Orlando team who could be a potential Eastern Conference playoff foe.
- Ryan

House Party
Everybody say "Hey"! These are your New Jersey Nets, at least more like the ones you remember from years past. Some of the names have changed, but more often than not over the 9 - 2 run they've put together, you could certainly picture this team making a run with the stars plus relative unknowns like they did in the glory years of '02 and '03. It was Eddie House who provided the shooting; Vince Carter who provided the brilliance and the scoring, and Jason Kidd who provided the glue, but look at the other contributions from Cliff Robinson, Boki Nachbar, Jason Collins, Mikki Moore and Marcus Williams tonight - everyone doing their jobs, no one panicing when falling down by 15, and most of all, everybody on the same page. And this includes L. Frank, who made some gutsy calls that paid off tonight in the face of a relentless Magic zone defense. Now, it's off to the West Coast, and the dreaded week-plus drag through late nights and tough opponents. Can the Nets keep up the roll now that they've reached .500? This will be the true indication that things are back...
– Joe