Joe Netsfan Round 2 Game 3 - Nets 96, Cavs 85

Triple the pleasure again today

Nets 96, Cavs 85
Round 2, Game 3 File
The Nets play a more aggressive, defensive game, Jason Kidd gets another triple double, and Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter come up huge as the Nets correct the mistakes of Games 1 & 2 to get the home win. Game 4 is Tuesday night, where the Nets can square the series.
• Box Score

Series Record: 1 - 2
Nets High Men:
• Points: Carter, Kidd and Jefferson each had 23.
• Assists: Jason Kidd, 14.
• Rebounds: Jason Kidd, 13.
• Steals: Moore and Jefferson each had 2.
• Turnovers: Jason Collins, 4.
• Blocks: Collins and Wright each had 1.
• FG Percentage: Jason Kidd, 75.0% (8 - 12). Antoine Wright was 2 - 2.

Nets Team Stats:
• FG Percentage: 47.2%
• FT Percentage: 74.1%
• Rebounds: 43
• Rebound Differential: +13
• Turnovers: 18
• Opposing Team's Turnovers: 13
• Bench points: 15
• Bench points Differential:+2
• Steals: 6
• Blocks: 2
• Points in the Paint: 34
• Double-Doubles: 1 (Jason Kidd: 23 points, 14 assists)
• Triple-Doubles: 1 (Jason Kidd: 23 points, 13 rebounds, 14 assists)

The Kidd Effect:
• Nets Players in Double Digit Scoring: 4
• Nets Fast Break Points: 20
• Kidd's FG Percentage: 75.0% (8 - 12).
• Scoring Differential Kidd in the game: +13
• Scoring Differential Kidd out: -2 (Williams, Carter)
• Double-Doubles this Season: 33
• Triple Doubles this Season: 12
• Career Triple Doubles: 87
• Double-Doubles playoffs: 6
• Triple Doubles playoffs: 2
• Career Playoff Triple Doubles:11

Nets Media
Bergen Record | Nets
Newark Star-Ledger | Nets
Newsday | Nets
NY Daily News | NBA
NY Post | Nets
NY Times | Pro Basketball
YES Network | Nets

Nets Team Pages
CNNSI.com | Nets
ESPN.com | Nets
FoxSports | Nets
NBA.com | Nets
Sportsline.com | Nets

Cavs Media:
Cleveland Plain Dealer | Cavs

Round 2, Game 3: Nets 96, Cavs 85 – May 12, 2007
Keys To The Kidd-Dom
After two games, it's been pretty simple to understand that for the Nets to get to the Eastern Conference Finals, they need to hold a few keys to the series: rebound the basketball, defend LeBron, get Vince Carter going. If you add one other key - that is, a Jason Kidd triple-double - then you really have a chance to unlock a victory.

Score one for the triple double man, Jason Kidd.

The Nets pick up a needed victory at home by holding all the keys in this one - they held the Cavs to 30 rebounds, and 6 offensive rebounds, they kept LeBron to a 5 - 18, 18 point horror show (he did have 12 assists), and they got an aggressive Carter, who shot only 8 - 19 but went to the line 10 times and picked up 23 points. But it was the Jason Kidd show, as the Nets finally got out and ran, following Kidd down the court or watching him make 5 (of 6) threes to take over control of what was formerly the Cavs' kingdom. Game 4 is at the CAA on Monday night.

Aggressive from the start, the Nets made like Shrek early and established domination behind the Big Three's strong start, getting leads of 15 - 4 and 20 - 9 before the subs checked in. Kidd was driving the engine, with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in the quarter. But not even three minutes elapsed spanning the first and second quarters under the control of Marcus Williams before the Nets lead was down to 5 points and the rookie was yanked from the ballgame. No pickup from the bench meant a loss in momentum, and the Nets fortunes turned rapidly better after they took the lead back up to 12 behind the play of Carter, Richard Jefferson and Antoine Wright.

But as soon as the Nets went up twelve, they watched almost in horror as the Cavs stole back the game with a 15 - 0 run spanning more than 4 minutes. Fumbling and stumbling while the Cavs were getting the ball inside thanks to double teams on LeBron (who had 3 assists in the run, plus a basket), Kidd finally put a stop to all that nonsense with a huge three, his fourth of the half. Re-establishing the lead thanks to Kidd, the Nets were not entirely happy to hit the locker room up only two points after thoroughly out-playing the Cavs for most of the half.

The second half started much like the first for New Jersey, with a rapid-fire burst (after a talking-to, we'd imagine) that saw the Nets go on an 8 - 0 run to take another 10 point lead only three minutes in. True to fashion, the four buckets were scored by Kidd, Carter, Jefferson and Mikki Moore, each in a different style. With the Big Three taking over the quarter (Moore, with a basket, and Nachbar, with a free throw, were the only other players besides Kidd (9 points), Carter (5 points) and Jefferson (11 points) to score in the third), the Nets took a 15 point lead before ending the quarter up nine.

But like every fairy-tale, there has to be some friction. Starting off the quarter on a 13 - 4 run, the Cavs found themselves down 4 and in position to make a move despite being outplayed all game long. A LeBron James three cut the lead down to 4 with 9:48 to play, and suddenly the Nets were thinking back to Games 1 and 2 about closing out. With Kidd at home, though, the Nets were safe, shutting out the Cavs for a more than five minute stretch after the James three to take the lead back up to a dozen. Kidd's fingerprints were all over it, as he secured the triple double early in the quarter, then assisted on baskets by Carter and Jefferson and held James in check defensively.

The bench warmers even got back into the Kidd-dom in the last 1:06, as Lawrence Frank emptied his bench.

And now, all is well again, at least for one game, as the giant twin headache of rebounding and LeBron was quelled. The Nets can now even up the series on Monday night, and after tonight's viewing, must be feeling much better about that proposition.

The Ruler Of Duloc
Praising Lord Farquaad – He is the king of the Nets' kingdom, isn't he? Any thoughts that he wouldn't come up with the big game to drag the Nets back into the series were only from the Cleveland side, to be sure. Kidd gets his 11th post-season triple double (to take second place all time) in his amazing career, and he does it when the Nets needed a big game from him most. Down 2 - 0, knowing full well that a loss at home would change this series into an eventuality, Kidd was once again the ruler of his royal, and loyal, subjects, getting the Nets offensive flow back, playing some tough-as-nails defense on LeBron, showing his fellow Nets how to rebound the ball, and doing everything short of selling popcorn in the aisles. The Nets are back in this series, largely because of Kidd.
Princess Fiona - What a difference a change in venue makes. The Cavs went from aggressive ass-kickers to girly-men on the boards, as they managed to get outrebounded by 13 and get pounded on the offensive glass by NJ, 11 - 6. Sure, the Nets were more aggressive in going after boards, boxing out their man, and hustling for loose balls, but the Cavs fed into it by looking much more lackidaisical (especially Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who looks as much like an ogre as anyone in the NBA) than in Games 1 and 2. All series long the Cavs have looked beatable, maybe now the Nets are doing something about it.
Defensive Donkey - The Nets made it a whole lot harder on the Cavs defensively tonight as well, as the very open shots they Cavs had in Games 1 and 2 as the Nets surrounded LeBron weren't there tonight. James, for his troubles, shot only 5 - 16, managed to score less than 20 points for the first time ever in the playoffs, and despite his 12 assists, wasn't a handful for the Nets, and wasn't nearly as aggressive. Give some serious credit to Richard Jefferson, who primarily chased LBJ around, and Jason Kidd, who handled things in the fourth quarter.
Running the Kingdom – And that defense was responsible (along with the rebounds) for the return of the running game, as Kidd led the Nets to 20 fast break points. Easy buckets in transition go a long way toward helping the Nets dominate, so if they can keep this up, they can return to Cleveland tied at 2 games apiece.
Jackass - What's up with Marcus Williams? Is it simply the pressure of the playoffs, or has his really regressed over the past six weeks? His less than three minute stint at the end of the first/start of the second quarter was miserable, like he was looking to make up a quarter's worth of playing time in those minutes. He forced passes, turned the ball over, and generally looked like he was ready to screw himself into the ground. Frank was smart to yank him in place of Vince Carter at the point. C'mon Marcus, it's time to man-up!
The Prince Of Pain - Richard Jefferson looked good-as-new today, runing with reckless abandon, getting some major hops, and looking like the killer in transition that he was before his ankle injury. Perhaps the Nets were affected by the short turnaround from Round 1 to Round 2, and the three plus days off helped them to re-energize and regroup. Anyway, if Jefferson's paint attacks are like today's paint attacks, and his defense on LeBron continues like it did today, the Nets will win this series. A big IF right now, but...
Fractured Fairy Tale - Nice to see Eddie House, reactivated before the game, make a cameo at the end of this one. If he could give the Nets some shot-making, wow, that would be huge.

Fairy Tale Forest
Can the Nets now write the sequal to today's game, starring Jason Kidd, on Tuesday night? The Nets played a much better all-around game, getting the rebounds and stops that they couldn't seem to get earlier in the series, and followed Kidd's lead (and triple double) to the victory. The Big Three, in fact, were huge today, and that bodes well for the Nets to tie up this series on Tuesday. The Cavs have looked mighty beatable in this series, despite their 2- 1 advantage, so let's see if the Nets can ride those Big Three bodies to another home victory and a re-start of this series back in Cleveland on Wednesday.
-Joe