Forgive the Nets if they dial 9 every time they pick up their home phones for a while. Expect them to call for room service whenever hunger strikes. Hey, it takes time getting re-acquainted with some things.
Like being home.
The Nets, starting tomorrow against the Heat, welcome their longest homestand of the season, a five-gamer that isn’t all that inviting when you consider the Heat and the defending champion Spurs are among the visitors (along with the Hornets, Knicks and Bucks). But anything is better than the arduous stretch the Nets just completed: a 25-day labor that had 11-of-14 games on the road with 18 nights spent in hotel rooms.
Hello, housekeeping? Send up a noose.
The result of this demented schedule was a 5-9 mini-campaign for the Nets, who won the first game of the batch, in Toronto. Since then, they have lost 9 of 13, including Wednesday’s 91-85 setback to triple-double author LeBron James and the Cavaliers in Cleveland that came on the heels of the feel-good victory over the Pistons the previous night.
Home has never seemed sweeter, especially considering the Nets have won nine straight in the Swamp since a 91-83 defeat to the Bobcats on Dec. 14.
“We’ve got a nice stretch of home games, so we’ll see what we can do,” said Jason Kidd. “We’ve been playing pretty well at home so hopefully that can continue.”
In their home win streak, the Nets have battered opponents to an average score of 103.4-92.0 – a far cry from first 10 home games this season, when they were outscored, 95.9-91.9. The biggest difference between the last nine and the first 10 is the record: 9-0 to 4-6.
Overall, the Nets have averaged 97.4 points at home and 92.5 on the road. And they have given up 94.0 at home and 95.2 on foreign floors. Of the five starters, only Kidd (14.4 at home vs. 15.1 on the road) scores better away from the Swamp. Home looks even better after the Nets went a combined 0-7 on the road against Western Conference teams in January.
“We just didn’t play well out West and these last two games showed that we can compete with the top teams in the Eastern Conference,” Kidd said.
The gruesome stretch ended Wednesday in Cleveland, where the Nets tried to capitalize on the gains from the victory over Detroit. Maybe they were gassed from spending so much energy against the Pistons. Regardless, they lost.
“We really couldn’t do much. We came off a really tough game [and] we couldn’t hit shots,” Richard Jefferson said after the Nets shot .377 against the Cavs. “We just didn’t do a very good job when we had our chances to break away . . . [The tough back-to-back] is a part of the league so you don’t make excuses. It is what it is. Some day you might get Charlotte and Toronto back-to-back – and we have lost those.”
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For the first time since he entered the league, Vince Carter was not voted an All-Star starter, losing out this year to guards Allen Iverson of Philadelphia and Dwyane Wade of Miami.
Weird? “Not at all,” Carter said. “That’s fine with me. Those guys have had a heck of a year. Allen’s playing well, D-Wade has been phenomenal. I have no problem.”
Carter missed one All-Star Game with injury and gave up his starting spot in 2003 to Michael Jordan in His Airness’ final season. In Carter’s rookie season, the All-Star Game was cancelled due to the lockout. The reserves will be announced Thursday.