Nets 99
Nuggets 79
This was a night to reminisce for the Nets and their fans. Yes, memories of the passing of Yinka Dare, the hustle of Joe Barry Carroll, the shooting of Dennis Hopson, the all-around savvy of Benoit Benjamin flooded through Continental Airlines Arena, courtesy of the Denver Nuggets.
With a performance that gave wretched a bad name, the Nuggets looked every bit the equal of those REALLY horrid Nets teams. This was not a game for watching. This was a game for going to bed and ignoring. The Nuggets became mere playthings as the Nets yawned and giggled and dunked their way to a 99-79 victory that in some states might qualify as cruel and unusual punishment.
So, Nets assistant Eddie Jordan, why exactly did you withdraw your name from the Nuggets’ summer head coaching search? Oh, that’s right. You’re sane.
The game lost all competitive air early as the Nets erased the sting of their first home defeat, to Dallas Saturday. Just 67 seconds in, Jason Kidd (24 points) fired in the first of his four 3-pointers. He added his second after a Juwan Howard jumper. Back-to-back scores by Kerry Kittles (15 points, season-high 6 assists) followed and the Nets led, 10-2. The lead became 19-7, 30-13, 40-17 and kept growing.
“That’s the team I remember from last year, as far as when we have a tough loss and really being able to bounce back,” said Byron Scott, who praised his team’s defense but chided some loosey-goosey, fun-seeking third quarter play.
“We weren’t going to take anybody lightly,” Kidd said. “Give credit to the guys for not letting down.”
Or to Denver for not showing up.
So much for the worry about overconfidence. The Nuggets never supplied a reason to worry. The Nets rammed home 3-pointers (8-of-13) and spectacular dunks all night, but may have crossed the line late in the third quarter.
After two house-shuddering dunks by Kenyon Martin (15 points with a new customized mask on his broken nose) and a third by Richard Jefferson (13 points), the Nets tried to continue the fun. Off one of the Nuggets’ 28 turnovers (and believe it, that count seems LOW), Kittles tried to bounce the ball off the backboard for Kidd, who in turn was going to bounce it for Jefferson (who had a breakaway 360 dunk earlier). The play became a mess and wound up as two free throws. To the Nuggets it was like rubbing salt. They did not look amused. Really awful maybe, but not amused.
“They executed and ran over us. If you are up you can do those things. But we won’t forget,” said James Posey.
“They kind of embarrassed us . . . I hope we can use that for motivation when we play them again,” said Kenny Satterfield (15 points).
“The way my team played annoyed me,” said coach Jeff Bzdelik. “This is a man’s league. No one feels sorry for you. We allowed them to do it.”
Kidd seemed more annoyed at the suggestion the Nets were out of line. “We’re all professionals here. We’re not trying to embarrass anybody,” he said. “A play presented itself and we tried it. It won’t be the first or the last time we try something out of the ordinary.”
But Scott didn’t get the joke. Noting he has a “60’s and 70’s mindset,” Scott took his starters out quickly. “I’m just glad it wasn’t in the 70’s or the 1960’s because somebody would have got hurt the next play.”
But then, if the Nuggets tried to lay out someone, they probably would have missed.