Cavaliers 93
Nets 90
CLEVELAND – The only thing missing was former coach Don Casey on the sidelines.
This one stunk, pure and simple. The Nets unleashed a performance as bad as any in recent years. Yes, Kenyon Martin was back in New Jersey because of personal reasons. Yes, the final score – Cavs 93, Nets 90 – made it look close.
No, there wasn’t a realistic excuse for the Nets. This was against the worst team in the league, the Cavs, whose sole purpose is to be so intensely putrid that they draft LeBron James.
“This is one of the lowest losses,” said Lucious Harris, receiving no argument. “You’ve got to take pride. We’re not playing with pride out there. To let them come out and jump on us the way they did? Basically we [stunk]. Period. Top to bottom. Everybody. We’re not playing the way we started off the season. I have no idea [why] I can’t put my finger on it.”
The Nets started poorly – the Cavs (11-46 – yup, 10 victories before this gem) set their season low for points allowed in the first quarter (12) and tied their low for a half (31). The Nets rallied furiously at the end, getting to within two points in the fourth after facing a deficit at large as 17. But the Nets (37-21) did enough lousy stuff to insure their first losing month since April, 2001, while running their overall losing streak to three, their road skid to four.
They started the fourth quarter missing 11 straight shots. They were hammered on the glass, 51-40, as Jumaine Jones had a season-high 12. They failed to make the timely stop when needed. They were butchered inside by 7-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas (29 points) who looked like an All-Star. And please, remember these were the Cavs, not the ’90’s Bulls or ’80’s Lakers.
“We can’t take anybody lightly,” said Jason Kidd, whose 31 points and nine assists were wasted and who missed a fairly impossible, running 3-pointer at the buzzer after a bonehead Cavs’ turnover.
“I don’t know if it’s the worst [loss] but it’s right up there with the top three or four,” said Byron Scott who admitted, “Right now, I have no answers.”
The good news? Indiana and Detroit also lost, so the Nets stayed in the No. 2 spot in the conference standings. But that’s like saying the good news was there was roast beef after Mrs. O’Leary’s cow started the Chicago fire.
The Nets gave effort, especially late. But they shot a dreadful .356 and were minus Martin. Still, it got interesting when an 11-point deficit became just 78-74 when in just :44 they converted two turnovers, a personal foul and a technical into six points.
But the endgame saw only frustration. Still within four, 86-82, they defended the Cavs to the shot clock and Jones launched a short 3. But there was no boxout. Jones waltzed in and scored the follow-up at 1:47.
They kept fighting and, almost incredibly, there was still a chance after Anthony Johnson’s trey made it 93-90 at :05.4. The Cavs needed only to inbound. But Jones fired long – really long – for a streaking Davis. The ball ticked his fingers and bounced away setting up Kidd’s mad dash upcourt (Nets inbounded under the Cavs basket) and hurried, short 3. Another loss.
“It’s a difficult stretch, something I never experienced in my career,” said Kerry Kittles, who pretty much thought he had seen it all with the Nets.
Aaron Williams (another strong bench effort) said the Nets need a sense of urgency that should have been present long ago. And Harris called it emergency time.
“We keep saying we’ve got 25 games. Now we’ve got 24,” Harris said. “Soon, we’re going to be saying we’ve got 10 left.”
Then it will be, “Wait til next year.”