AUBURN HILLS – During Game 1 here, the Nets scored all of 56 points, terrific if you’re a football team, rotten if you play basketball. During Game 2 here, the Nets lost a barn-burner by just 15 points.
So why is it going to be different tonight in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the Palace?
“We’re at our best when we have an opportunity to do something that people say we can’t do. That plays in a little bit,” said Kenyon Martin, bringing up the Nets’ preferred “us against the world” theme. “We got a couple wins under our belt. We played well for two games, played the way we’re capable of playing. Hopefully we can build on it.”
And Game 5 is as good a place to start as any for the Nets, who completely changed the outlook of the series by throttling Detroit twice in the Swamp. The Nets are prepared for a hostile and desperate environment. What else is new in an NBA road playoff game? Both sides know the importance of a Game 5 in a tied-up best-of-seven set. In 115 previous seven gamers tied at 2-2, the fifth-game winner won the series 96 times, or 83 percent.
“Whoever wins that one pretty much controls the series,” said Jason Kidd, fresh off the seventh playoff triple-double of his career. “If we’re to have any chance of winning the series, we’ve got to find a way to win one on the road.”
Coach Lawrence Frank insists his Nets will treat Game 5 like a Game 7.
“There has to be a sense of urgency. Obviously, with the homecourt advantage they have, if they win out at home, they’ll win the series,” Frank said. “We have to win at least one on the road. We have to play like there’s no tomorrow, because that’s how they’re going to approach it.”
If momentum is a factor, it must favor the Nets, who are riding the two-game rout streak. But the Nets are quick to point out how the Pistons were all but knighted and declared living legends after rushing to a 2-0 lead. With the Nets’ two wins, the momentum sort of switched. While this affair has, for all intents, become a best 2-of-3, two of the possible three games are set for the Palace. That is a big edge, the Nets say.
“This game is huge; this is one that decides a lot. If we win this game, we have a chance to come home and finish it off,” explained Richard Jefferson, who has won the individual matchup against Tayshaun Prince, one of the key battles in the series. “If they win that game, then they know no matter what, it’s going to come home for a Game 7 [assuming the Nets win Game 6] where they’re going to feel extremely comfortable.”
The Pistons have more than the Nets on their minds. Rasheed Wallace said yesterday he is “about 60 percent” while battling plantar fasciitis in his left heel. Starting guard Chauncey Billups, who was effectively negated by Kerry Kittles in New Jersey, where the Nets employed a superb cross-matchup, is troubled by back spasms. Billups did not practice yesterday but is expected to play, although he has trouble with a few movements – like bending.
“The bottom line is we’re 2-2 and it’s over with,” Detroit coach Larry Brown said of the nightmare in New Jersey. “We’re not going to change anything. We have homecourt in a three-game series. That’s something we worked for all year.”