MIAMI — With his Nets trailing the Heat by 13 at the start of the fourth quarter of Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal Tuesday, coach Jason Kidd took a risk.
Kidd went with Shaun Livingston and four reserves — Marcus Thornton, Mirza Teletovic, Andrei Kirilenko and Mason Plumlee — to give his starters a breather and try to get the Nets back into the game.
Instead, the Heat slowly extended their lead over the first few minutes of the fourth, growing it to 19 with just under seven minutes left, and Kidd opted to leave his starters on the bench for the rest of the game — other than a brief cameo for Kevin Garnett — as the Heat easily put away the game.
“I wanted to get those guys, the starters, a break, give them some rest,” Kidd said after the 107-86 loss. “When we went with that group, I thought that group could make some shots but also get some stops and get it to where it’s under 10, and then go from there but it never happened.”
It was a defensible decision, given that the Nets were coming off a grueling seven-game series against the Raptors that included Sunday’s heart-stopping 104-103 win in which Garnett played more than 25 minutes for a second straight game for the first time since early December and Joe Johnson played 45 minutes.
The players were completely behind the coach’s decision.
“Kidd’s making the decisions,” Paul Pierce said. “We’re sticking with him all the way through. We’re trusting him.”
“Of course we would love to get back out there, but that was coach’s decision to go with the group he had,” Deron Williams said. “[He] probably just felt like 20 points was tough to overcome at that point.”
After Mark Jackson went to bat for Kidd during his troubles earlier this season, the Nets coach returned the favor Tuesday.
Speaking before Game 1, and shortly after Jackson was fired by the Warriors following a 51-win season that ended with a Game 7 loss to the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs last weekend, Kidd expressed surprise and dismay that the fellow former point guard is out of work.
“I was just surprised. It’s like, ‘Wow.’ … We’re not in that situation, I’m not there, so I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m very disappointed because of what he’s done at Golden State,” Kidd said. “With them winning [this season] and then losing in Game 7 against a potential team that could win a championship … with that being said, [regarding] basketball I thought he did all the right things. He was a great mentor for me, and still will be, and he will find another job hopefully here soon.”
Jackson spoke up for Kidd while he was going through the controversy surrounding the “re-assignment” of assistant coach Lawrence Frank, saying the head coach has to have everyone fall in line behind him, and defended Kidd throughout the early part of the season when he was being assailed on all sides.
“He had no choice — he couldn’t guard me when we played basketball,” Kidd said jokingly. “It just shows you, he’s been a big brother, and for him to step up and protect me is always appreciated.
“I’ve always been thankful for him … when he stepped up and said those things in light of what was going on, I was always thankful.”
Kevin Garnett went scoreless in 16 minutes Tuesday, his first scoreless appearance in 139 career playoff games.