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:
After winning the last ABA Finals in 1976, the Nets were one of the teams to make the move to the NBA. From there, it took a while to get back to the top.
The Nets had their first NBA playoffs berth in 1979 but lost in the first round. They made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 1984, but until the 2002 Playoffs, that was the only time New Jersey made it out of the first round of the postseason as an NBA franchise.
Then came the Nets’ Jason Kidd-led run. And by June 5, New Jersey was competing in the 2002 NBA Finals.
But Game 1 against Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t go New Jersey’s way, despite Kidd’s triple-double (23 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.)
Kenyon Martin scored 21 points and both Keith Van Horn (12) and Todd MacCulloch (10) finished in double figures, as well, but the Lakers took the early advantage in the series with a 99-94 win (full box score).