The choice between Milwaukee and Detroit seems obvious. Any team should want to play the Bucks instead of the Pistons, who seemed to establish a different defensive record every game.
But for the Nets, the Bucks have been anything but a cakewalk – or even a series against the Knicks. The Bucks beat the Nets three times in four games this season. So it’s not as if the Nets would feel all comfy with Milwaukee, although they would get homecourt advantage. As per team policy, no one would even hint at a preference.
“I’d rather play the Orlando Magic, but since they’re no longer available we’ll take whoever comes,” said Richard Jefferson.
Logic dictates the Nets will advance to face the Pistons, who sought to take a 3-1 lead in their series against the Bucks last night, but, Lucious Harris noted, “we haven’t had a lot of success with either of them.”
Detroit had homecourt over the Nets last year in the Eastern Finals, but the Nets forged a 4-zip sweep. But this is not the Detroit team of a year ago. Beyond personnel, the Pistons have Larry Brown coaching. He’s a Hall of Famer. Enough said. The teams split four games this season, but three were played before Rasheed Wallace landed in Michigan.
Wallace’s length can cause problems for Kenyon Martin, who got fired up and ripped the Knicks for series-high averages of 23.3 points and 14.0 rebounds, including his career playoff-high of 36 points with 13 rebounds in the 100-94 Game 4 triumph Sunday. The Nets, no doubt, hope the Pistons pull a Tim Thomas and stick foot firmly in mouth.
“Kenyon, he likes that stuff,” Harris said. “When guys tell him they want to meet him in a phone booth, he feeds off that stuff. Maybe we can get someone to say that stuff next round.”
Because if it is Detroit, the Nets will need whatever help they can muster. The Pistons’ length, defense and aggressiveness take teams out of what they want to do. Detroit is also athletic with abundant depth. Offensively, they have explosive scorers in Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and Wallace. Even Ben Wallace, one of the premier defenders on the planet, is more offensively involved. Big Ben averaged 6.0 shots last year. He’s up to 9.2. Yup, Detroit would be a handful. But so would Milwaukee. Either way, the Nets have one full week at least to either fight fatigue or ward off rust.
“The key is you have to maintain your edge but have to take advantage of the rest,” said coach Lawrence Frank. “It’s a balancing act. It’s important to maintain our speed and quickness but not overload our guys. We have guys who are hurting, playing through a great deal of pain. We’ll use it to our advantage.”
The danger in the Bucks, who also were beaten by the Nets in last year’s playoffs, is their explosiveness offensively. They want the game in the 100s. They can use quick, unorthodox lineups with five guys who are strong on drive and kick or deadly off the dribble, a Nets weakness all season. And the Bucks can nail 3-pointers. Michael Redd, Desmond Mason, Toni Kukoc and Keith Van Horn are athletic and possess range. But the Nets aren’t running away from anybody.
“The character of this team (is) we’re going to play until there’s no more time on the clock,” Jason Kidd said. “Sometimes people can never measure the will of us always fighting.”
* Kidd was named yesterday as a member of the NBA’s second team All-Defensive unit for the third time in his career.
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Beasts of the East
Kenyon Martin and the Nets have boldly gone where no team has gone before, winning an NBA record 14 consecutive Eastern Conference playoff games. Martin led or co-led Nets scorers eight times in the stretch. Here’s a closer look at the Nets’ streak as they await their opponent in the conference finals:
Date + Result
4/29/03 + Nets 89, Bucks 82
5/1/03 + Nets 113, Bucks 101
5/5/03 + Nets 97, Celtics 93
5/7/03 + Nets 104, Celtics 95
5/9/03 + Nets 94, Celtics 76
5/12/03 + Nets 110, Celtics 101 (2OT)
5/18/03 + Nets 76, Pistons 74
5/20/03 + Nets 88, Pistons 86
5/22/03 + Nets 97, Pistons 85
5/24/03 + Nets 102, Pistons 82
4/17/04 + Nets 107, Knicks 83
4/20/04 + Nets 99, Knicks 81
4/22/04 + Nets 81, Knicks 78
4/25/04 + Nets 100, Knicks 94
