THEY are 6-1 and the most entertaining show in the area. They run, they leap, they excite. They build leads. They lose leads. They hold your attention. These Nets have been the NBA version of “Rocky,” eternal underdogs who look brilliant one quarter, turn into a band of club fighters the next.
In the end, they’ve been standing lately. Maybe they’re battered and bloodied, but they have been the ones with their hands up at the final bell.
“We just keep looking until we find a way to win,” Lucious Harris said. “Nobody’s giving up. We just know we can win any battle. We don’t get scared.”
Yo, Adrian . . .
Before they leave for what should be a very telling West Coast trip, the Nets play two home games at the Meadowlands – the Knicks tomorrow and the Sixers Saturday – as they seek to extend the success of the best start in the team’s NBA history.
Think that Knick game will mean something extra? For years, they have played ninth fiddle to the Knicks, who routinely enjoyed a home-crowd atmosphere in the Meadowlands. Maybe the Nets can alter that, at least in their own gym joint.
This is the franchise synonymous with hideous disaster, rotten luck and worse timing. In previous lives, the Nets married Calamity Jane, vacationed on Atlantis, flew the Hindenburg. But now luck – and results – are changing.
“Guys believe in themselves and each other,” said coach Byron Scott, who has been teaching and preaching the gospel of defense. “You’re not going to make every shot, but the one thing you can control is being aggressive and tenacious on the defensive end.”
The Nets are doing it with team defense and a rotating cast of offensive heroes, such as a bench that has outscored opposing subs by a 27.6-18.4 average. The whole cast is led by the incomparably unselfish All-Pro Jason Kidd. He directs, he choreographs, he breathes life, confidence – and victories – into teammates. They would follow him over a cliff.
“With Jason, you never ask how many points he scored or how many assists he got. You ask, ‘How did Jason play?’ ” Indiana coach Isiah Thomas said. “Somebody will say he played good, then say he did this, this, this.
“He’s one of the few players in the league who can beat you without scoring a point.”
Said former teammate Cliff Robinson, now in Detroit, “Jason is such an unselfish player and he makes players around him better. He’s not the greatest shooter or the greatest scorer, but he makes his team better scorers.
“Did I like playing with Jason? I loved playing with Jason. Definitely.”
Kidd’s high-arcing lobs are rewards for Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles and Keith Van Horn for running the floor. It’s getting contagious as the Nets catch and dunk or toss lobs themselves every game.
In the middle, Todd MacCulloch has helped remove the welcome mat from the lane. Some nights he scores, some nights he doesn’t. Every night he gives effort.
No one writes, “Trade Me” or “All Alone” on his sneakers (all are tied, incidentally). There hasn’t been a single “Whoop dee damn doo.” Attendance has been horrific (tickets are available for the Knicks and Sixers – when was the last time that happened?), but those who come see exciting games. They haven’t all been masterpieces – none of Rocky’s fights were. They’ve been more like the Mona Lisa with a goatee. Good, bad or indifferent, the Nets make things happen.
Improbable scenarios are the norm, the most recent being the magnificent defensive stand they threw at the Pacers in Indiana Tuesday. After the Pacers sliced a 16-point deficit to four, the Nets forced them into seven straight misfires and two turnovers while stringing together a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter.
The Nets won their opener by rallying from 17 down in the first half, 13 down in the fourth against Indiana. They blew most of a 25-point lead in Boston and then held their breath and crossed fingers, toes and eyeballs as Kenny Anderson bricked two free throws at :15.2.
They knocked off Charlotte with a suffocating 15-1, third-quarter run. They hammered Seattle with a 20-7, fourth-quarter segment. Against Cleveland, Kidd scored seven points in the last 2:17 and the Cavs missed a buzzer trifecta.
“Our guys have heart. They play with heart and they continue to compete every single night,” Scott said. “When they feel they have a chance to win, they get tougher.”
Just like Rocky.
TALE OF THE TAPE
NetsTALE OF TAPE Knicks
Continental Airline Arena Arena-Madison Square Garden
20,049Capacity 19,763
6-1Record 3-5
1st Place-T-3rd
95.0 Pts Per Game87.0
90.9 Pts Allowed89.4
Keith Van Horn (17.3) Leading ScorerAllan Houston (16.2)
Jason Kidd (8.4) Leading AssistMark Jackson (7.1)
Keith Van Horn (8.6) Leading RebounderKurt Thomas (8.8)
Byron Scott CoachJeff Van Gundy
