AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The Nets’ obituary has appeared before and, once again, they find themselves trying to prove reports of their demise are vastly premature.
“We’ve been buried since the beginning. That’s nothing new to us. It’s just the way it’s been since we’ve been in the playoffs,” Jason Kidd said before the Nets left for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal against the Pistons here tonight.
“They’ve always buried us,” Lucious Harris said about the general-public’s view. “We’ve always been underdogs. This team, every time our back is against the wall, something happens.”
There actually is some logic in comparing the pulses of Nets and Napoleon. Against the Pistons in Game 1, which was played years ago according to local legend, the Nets shot .271 from the field, were crushed on the boards, and scored 56 points. None of the Pistons retired, so one popular viewpoint is the Nets are in for more of the same.
“They’ve been counting us out all the time. It’s nothing new. From the beginning of the season it’s been all about Detroit and Indiana. Since the playoffs started it’s been even more,” Kenyon Martin said. “We don’t care. We don’t get caught up in it. We have to play the right way. It was one game.”
Yesterday, the Nets recalled another time when they were counted out and the spigot was turned on for the embalming fluid. In the Eastern finals against the Celtics two years ago, they committed a collapse of historic proportions. Up 26 at one point, the Nets still led by 21 (74-53) entering the fourth quarter. The Celtics rallied and won, 94-90, the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA history. The Nets received last rites nationwide.
“Nobody panicked. Everybody was aboard that we knew what we did wrong and we made the adjustment,” Kidd said.
Martin recalled that the Celtics and their fans “celebrated like they had won the whole NBA championship” while the Nets told themselves it was only one loss.
“We were disappointed we lost the game, but it wasn’t anything but one game,” Martin said. “OK, we blew a lead. Fine. We knew what the situation was, it wasn’t nothing but one game and we bounced back from it, which no one thought we could.”
Richard Jefferson said, “I knew what we were capable of doing. You have to have belief in your own abilities. If you don’t believe in yourself and your teammates, then you can question. The only similarity I use is to learn from it, but I don’t really pay attention to what the hell people say. It’s just their opinion. Obviously, 99 percent of the time people are wrong.”
The Nets responded from the Boston debacle and won three straight games to close out the Celtics. The Nets are convinced they can pull a repeat here. If not tonight, though, down 0-2 against these stingy Pistons is a horrifying spot.
“We have a veteran group that understands. We’re not happy with our performance. Regardless if we lost by two, 22 or 52, it’s still one game,” Lawrence Frank said. “We look forward to Game 2. It’s a great opportunity.”
So for the longest three off days of their lives between games, the Nets have practiced, watched film, gone over adjustments – and heard and read they are virtual toast. The Nets have stressed positives, which in a game of 56 points aren’t overflowing. But they have praised a defense that surrendered 78 points, usually a winning total. They’ve pointed to their 19 fast-break points, a commendable total.
But the only number that really matters is: one loss.