GAME 1
Nets 107
Knicks 83
The Knicks tried a halfcourt game at the start. The Nets ran. The Knicks ran later on. The Nets matched. The Knicks tried to be physical. The Nets responded.
Basically, this was anything you can do, we can do better. And the Nets did.
With ailing All-Stars Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin among the five players who cracked double figures -and both of them posted double-doubles -the Nets grabbed a 1-0 lead in their first-round NBA playoff series yesterday with a 107-83 rout of their area-rival Knicks at the Meadowlands.
When the Nets needed to score, they scored. And when they needed to defend, they defended. The Nets, obviously, cracked 100 points and held the Knicks to just 28 points in the second half.
Kidd finished with 14 points and 13 assists while Martin had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Richard Jefferson scored 21, and Kerry Kittles added 20 for the Nets, who will seek a 2-0 lead Tuesday night in the Meadowlands.
For the Knicks, who were without Allan Houston, Nazr Mohammed scored 16 points at center -the lone duel New York won.
Stephon Marbury had 13 points and only two assists. Tim Thomas, who left the game after crashing to the floor with 6:11 left, had 12 points -just three after the first quarter.
As the game began, Martin was doing his best Alonzo Mourning impression, exhorting the crowd and flexing and, in general, exploding with emotion (Mourning was on the bench in a suit, by the way). And in a move that no doubt cost them some Yankee fans, the Nets appeared in red socks.
“Just something different,” Kidd shrugged. “It’s a sign of togetherness.”
Brian Scalabrine, who was iffy because of a strained left hamstring, ended the first half with a 3-point shot that beat the buzzer by :00.2 and gave the Nets a 62-55 lead. The shot came off Kidd’s ninth assist of the game.
And yet it was at the start of the third quarter where the Knicks, who began the game in a Thomas vs. Jefferson shootout, suffered the most. They missed their first 11 shots of the quarter and flipped in four turnovers. But the Nets did not take full advantage before Michael Sweetney scored a three-point play at 5:40, as they bumped their lead to 71-55 when they easily could have buried their guests.
But by the end of the quarter, which saw a lot of Kidd covering Marbury, the Nets had raised their lead to 86-68. Marbury, who was tag-teamed by Kidd and Kittles in the first half, was 0-of-3 with no assists.
The game opened as a Jefferson-Thomas duel -the two small forwards combined for the first 15 points in the game. The Nets ran and ran and got a superb effort from Kittles (6-of-6, 13 points in the quarter) while Marbury picked up his scoring, dumping in nine as the Knicks continued making jumpers. The defense-free first quarter ended with the Nets over the Knicks, 30-24.
Kidd was involved in the first half’s most heated exchange. After Lucious Harris swiped a Frank Williams entry pass, Kidd and Martin combined for two of the Nets 20 first half fast break points, Martin dunking to end the play at 7:34 of the second quarter for a 40-34 Net advantage. Kidd, though, barreled over Williams with no call.
Kidd obviously said something to Williams, who got up and pushed him to the ground with a shove. Kidd was hit with a taunting technical, Williams was slapped was an offensive foul turnover. The Knicks claimed they have a tape of the incident showing Jefferson leaving the bench -which could bring a suspension. An NBA spokesman said the league will investigate.
With 6:11 left in the game, Thomas crashed hard to the floor after a hard foul by Jason Collins. Thomas was in the air going for a dunk and Collins came and hit him hard on the arm, costing the Knick his balance. Thomas stayed down and was helped off by teammates. Mohammed shot the free throws and made both.