In the regular season, scoring 90 points was decidedly sub-par for the Nets. They were 38-13 when they scored at least 91 points, 11-20 when they were at 90 or fewer.
But getting to 90 points in these NBA Finals with the Spurs suddenly seemed like the secret to all happiness, the keys to the kingdom.
Want 90, Nets?
In a heartbeat.
“I’d take it. If we can score 90, we’d be in good position to win,” Kerry Kittles said. “Neither team has been giving up that many points. So the team that scores will win now because defense has been there on both sides of the court.”
In the first four games of the Finals, the Nets had yet to reach 90 points. Had they scored 90 – just 90 – each time they would have held a commanding 3-1 lead entering last night’s Game 5 at the Meadowlands instead of being tied at 2-2.
Other teams went through an entire Finals without scoring 90 points in any game. Most recently, the Knicks did it in 1999, against the Spurs, no less. Utah did it in 1998 against the Bulls. As if you need reminding, the Knicks lost in 1999, the Jazz lost in 1998.
“We would like to score more points, there is no doubt about that, but unfortunately the ball hasn’t gone in for a lot of us. Hopefully it goes in for us and not them,” said Jason Kidd, shooting .333 through four games. “If we get to 80, that’s fine. Hopefully we just have more points than San Antonio. . . . You’ve got two teams lugging it out defensively, so both teams want to put it in the basket more, but hopefully we can put it in more than they can.”
The Spurs cracked 100 in Game 1 (a 101-89 win). Then they darn near hit 80 in each of the two previous games before last night. Say all you want about the beauty of defense, the delight of physical battles, there’s nothing really attractive about lousy shooting. And the Nets (.381) and Spurs (.414) through four games combined to shoot .397 (252 of 635). Numbers like that make the Home and Garden Channel look like life on the edge.
“It’s surprising to me to see this many guys shooting the ball badly,” Spurs center David Robinson said.
The Nets were hoping for a return to their ever-moving, fast-paced style, one that could put numbers up on the board and not wallow in 16- and 11-point quarters, totals they managed in Game 4 – and still won!
Of the 32 quarter totals in the first four games (16 by each team), 12 of them contained fewer than 20 points. Nope, this isn’t All-Star Game offense.
It’s not a question of shots or shot selection, the Nets insist.
“We could use more transition buckets. And 3-pointers always help,” Kittles said “But our shots are not bad, they’re open. We’re not making them. We’re definitely getting shots. They’re just not going down.”
Byron Scott said, “I think because the defense has been so good, that now when guys are getting open shots, they’re almost looking for people. It’s almost like, ‘Wow, I’m open. I don’t believe I’m this open.’ So now you hesitate a little bit.”
Would Scott take 90 points, no questions asked?
“I’ll take 95,” he said. “I am greedy. Ninety-five would be, the way we’re playing defense, I think pretty comfortable. Ninety is not bad, but 90 is still pushing it.”
