WASHINGTON – The Nets’ grand plan to take their victory over Indiana and run with it to the end of the season began with a crawl last night. A traffic crawl.
The Nets’ second bus, carrying coach Byron Scott, Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin, among others, arrived at 6:12 last night, a tad behind the expected 5:30 ETA.
But the drive time was the only thing that had the Nets in a sluggish mood. To a man, they all agreed to come here and not take advantage of an undermanned Wizards team would be to blow all the good that Thursday night’s thriller over the Pacers brought.
“That was one of those games that can get you started,” Scott said of the 98-91 victory that saw the Nets rally from a 15-point, third-quarter deficit.
“We understand how many games are left in the season, so we want to start making our run. The last thing we want to do is waste that by coming in here tonight and not playing up to our capability.”
Yes, this was Michael Jordan’s last regular-season game against the Nets – barring yet another comeback.
And yes, a 10-minute bus ride turning into the wait at Disney World’s Space Mountain in the summer can distract and maybe divert attention. But the Nets knew what was at stake.
Since the All-Star break, they had been decidedly mediocre. Then came what they all said would be a “special game,” a contest against a power, a contest that would test them. They passed. But only if they kept it going.
“We’ll find out [against Washington],” said Aaron Williams. “The Indiana game was a big game, but if we don’t win against Washington it was all for nothing. Hopefully that will get us back on track.”
The Nets were absolutely brilliant defensively against the Pacers, and that was what Martin found most satisfying. He said that game could be the springboard the Nets needed “because of the way we won it.”
Washington’s coach, Doug Collins, agreed.
It certainly didn’t hurt, he said, that the Nets and Pacers just don’t like each other. That brought out the toughness in the Nets, and that toughness translated into a victory, one that could push the Nets right back into the same frame of mind they had last year when they advanced to the NBA Finals.
“As you start cranking it up, you start thinking, ‘Let’s get ourselves right for the playoffs,'” Collins said. “I think New Jersey learned a lot last year from what they went through and how they got to the Finals and all they had to go through.
“And there’s nothing like playoff battles to test a team to make sure you get things right, and then when you have some failure where they lost in the Finals, they think what they have to do to be better.”
Thursday night had all the intensity of a playoff game, Collins reminded.
“I know there is bad blood between Indiana and New Jersey, and those guys have had some battles, but I’m sure Byron is very proud of his team and the way they were able to turn that game around. This team is tough. They’re a tough-minded team,” Collins said. “In the playoffs, you have to have talent but you have to have toughness.”
For the Nets, it can be as simple as a matter of playoff positioning survival.
“I get that sense that they are a little more serious,” Scott said.