With the NBA on hiatus and New York continuing its battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, Brooklyn Nets games will not be played for the foreseeable future.
For the Nets, as much as any team, this comes at an odd time — Brooklyn was battling the Orlando Magic for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference standings. At the stoppage of play, the Nets had a half-game advantage over the Magic.
Since there aren’t any games, each day Nets Wire will highlight impressive individual performances and major moments throughout Nets history:
One season after the New Jersey Nets were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2002 NBA Finals, Jason Kidd and company were back in the postseason.
Though, in 2002, the Nets were the top-ranked team in the Eastern Conference. This time around, New Jersey had to face off against the seventh-seeded Milwaukee Bucks as the No. 2 team in the East.
But that hardly made a difference for the Nets in their first game in the first round of the 2003 NBA Playoffs. Kidd had himself a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 14 assists against Gary Payton.
“J-Kidd is one of the best point guards in the league,” Nets big man Jason Collins said after New Jersey’s 109-96 win (full box score). “Today he showed it again how good he is on the defensive side of the ball. On offense, he got us off to a great start. He did a great job against Gary Payton today.”
Kenyon Martin led the Nets with 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Collins also had a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 boards.
“I wanted to let the Bucks know it was going to be a war,” Martin said. “Hurt, not hurt, I’m not going to back down. I wanted to put it in those guys’ minds that I was not going to quit.”
Kerry Kittles (18 points), Lucious Harris (17), Richard Jefferson (10) and Rodney Rogers (11) each finished in double-figures, as well. Harris was three rebounds away from posting a double-double off the bench.
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