Nets 99
Suns 88
Give the Nets credit for one point above all else. They certainly keep drama in the world.
Look at last night. They kept you guessing from start to finish although there were times when you were certain of the outcome. Like when they held a 15-point lead entering the fourth quarter. Relax and breathe easy, right? With these guys? Surely you jest.
The Nets made it look like they wouldn’t even score a basket in the fourth quarter when they missed their first 10 shots and gave away all of their lead. But when Kenyon Martin ended the suspense with a little jump hook at 4:19, it put the Nets back in the lead for keeps. The Nets finished up scoring 14 of the last 16 points in a 99-88 victory, their second triumph at home in as many nights.
“The big thing is for us to play and not six minutes or eight minutes but a full game,” said Jason Kidd who finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds. “Win or lose, we have to play 48 minutes.”
That hasn’t been the case much of late. But,hey, it was a win, so they’ll take it and go home and shovel out their driveways. Or,actually, pay someone to shovel out their driveways.
Martin excelled for a second straight night and followed up his 20-20 performance with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Richard Jefferson added 18 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Shawn Marion scored 25 points and Stephon Marbury added 23 for the Suns, who overcame a 29-point deficit to win in Boston Friday.
Lucious Harris, averaging 6.0 points, scored the first seven and the last three points in a 14-2 run that covered the final 3:27 of the third quarter and boosted the Nets from a three-point lead to an 81-66 advantage. Yup, things looked good for the Nets.
Appearances can be so deceiving. The Nets (9-11) started the fourth quarter with those 10 bricks and three turnovers. So the Suns (8-11) ripped off a 20-4 explosion – all of the points by Marbury, Marion and Penny Hardaway for an 86-85 lead. Martin then started the Nets’ assault with his score.
Some 5,000 fans or so braved the elements to come out to the game that withstood any postponement because, well, you ever try re-scheduling a Western Conference team in the East? And the Meadowlands is booked for tonight because of a Simon & Garfunkel concert.
Scott didn’t go out and challenge his players with a “show me this, let’s see you do that” presentation as he did before Friday’s victory over Milwaukee. But he did repeat his call for the one element the Nets have sought all season.
Consistency.
And a quick gander at the first half showed exactly why. The Nets burst out against the Suns and grabbed a 9-point lead even before the invitation to fans in the upper bowl to again come downstairs. Kidd led the early attack with seven points in the first 2:26, helping the Nets bolt to an 11-2 advantage.
But the Suns, even without Amare Stoudemire (ankle), weren’t going to roll over. With strong inside contributions from centers Jake Voskuhl and Jahidi White, Phoenix took a 44-39 lead in the second quarter.
So while Friday’s triumph might not have made the organization exhale and claim, “We’re back,” it was at least a step in the right direction.
“I get that sense that they understand that it was a good start to get off the losing streak and get on the winning track. But one game is not going to solve all your problems. We still have some things that we need to work on and get better at,” Scott said. “It’s another day to try to get better as a basketball team and try to put that complete game together because we still had some lulls…in some situations when we shouldn’t have.