Joe Netsfan Round 2 Game 4 - Cavs 87, Nets 85

Time to find those missing points

Cavs 87, Nets 85
Round 2, Game 4 File
After an up-and-down season full of inconsistency, the Nets serve up a plate full in this Game 4 matchup against the Cavs, and come away just a basket short, and one more loss, away from elimination. The Big Three are the Big Bust, and with the series shifting to Cleveland for Game 5, it might be the end of the line.
• Box Score

Series Record: 1 - 3
Nets High Men:
• Points: Carter and Moore each had 23.
• Assists: Vince Carter, 9.
• Rebounds: Jason Kidd, 17.
• Steals: Vince Carter, 2.
• Turnovers: Vince Carter, 4.
• Blocks: Mikki Moore, 1.
• FG Percentage: Jason Kidd, 78.6% (11 - 14).

Nets Team Stats:
• FG Percentage: 36.0%
• FT Percentage: 81.3%
• Rebounds: 41
• Rebound Differential: -2
• Turnovers: 13
• Opposing Team's Turnovers: 13
• Bench points: 15
• Bench points Differential:+7
• Steals:4
• Blocks: 1
• Points in the Paint: 28
• Double-Doubles: 0
• Triple-Doubles: 0

The Kidd Effect:
• Nets Players in Double Digit Scoring: 3
• Nets Fast Break Points: 4
• Kidd's FG Percentage: 15.4% (2 - 13).
• Scoring Differential Kidd in the game: -2
• Scoring Differential Kidd out: +1 (Williams)
• 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 4: Cavs 87, Nets 85 – May 14, 2007
Stolen Moment
It was there for the taking, after a mostly horrible performance that left the Nets down a measly two points with 11 seconds to play. With possession of the basketball, the Nets did what they always do - put it in the hands of one of the more creative individuals in the NBA, Vince Carter. And Carter proceeded to do what he's too often done this season:

Come up small.

Game 4 goes to the visiting Cavaliers, and Carter juked and jived, trying to shake Eric Snow and two other Cavs, and wound up fumbling the ball under duress out of bounds with less than 2 seconds to go and the Nets still down by those two points.

Those two miserable points would be the difference between heading to Cleveland tied at two games each vs. down three games to one, with hope fading fast. In a game where Carter and the other two parts of the Big Three came up lame, it's perhaps a fitting end for the most inconsistent of Nets seasons since 1998 - 1999, or before the dawn of the Kidd era.

And the takeaway from this game is simple: the Nets could easily be up in this series 3 - 1, but instead are down 3 - 1, and deservedly so. It's just not to be this season, Netsfans, and as soon as Wednesday evening, we'll get that memo and the off-season can begin.

After 82 regular season games and 10 post-season games, I can't even begin to get into the details of how this game was lost. The Nets shot the ball terribly, they didn't do nearly enough on the break or defensively against LeBron, and they certainly appeared to be outworked and outplayed. Not the way you want the season to wind up, but it is what it is.

In a moment, the Nets went from hope to desperation, all at the hands of their most frustrating player, Vince Carter. I'll rehash this game tomorrow, or in a few days, but for now, just let the moment pass.

Time Out Of Mind
Stop the Clock – I can't quite make up my mind whether the Nets were locked down by the Cavs, or simply had a(n) (way) off shooting night. Probably both, but in all honesty, the Nets are playing massive amounts of money to Jason Kidd (who shot 2 - 13), Vince Carter (who was a 6 - 23 star) and Richard Jefferson (who went 3 - 12) and they didn't come close to matching the intensity of the evening. What's more, for players with clutch reputations, going 1 - 13 in the final quarter of a tight game isn't much to enhance your reputation going forward. Coming up small in such a big game never is...
Way Back In Time - Credit LeBron for correcting his under-aggressive tendency in Game 3 with more of a superstar's Game 4. He scored 30 points, with 9 rebounds and 7 assists (to his credit, VC had 25, 9 and 9, so he wasn't nearly the problem for the Nets) and he got to the line 15 times (too bad he's a horrible free throw shooter). Though this team will never get by the likes of the Pistons, at least the opponent superstar got it done.
Alarm Clock - Hey, Mikki Moore had a big game, with 25 points, perhaps his first one (at least scoring) of the playoffs. If it wasn't for Mikki, the Nets would have been down for the count much earlier. He's a good guy, still has issues running his mouth, and he nearly decapitated Sasha Pavlovic (not that we minded), so at least he earned his keep.
Stopping Time –The Nets just can't get enough stops to make their life easier, can they? The Cavs were much more efficient, because the Nets got only 4 steals, and managed only 4 fast break points while allowing the Cavs 24 fast break points. Ouch. Without the stops, the steals, and the forced errors, the Nets are forced to be a half-court time, which they aren't very good at.
No More Boki Time - We picked on Marcus Williams last game, but he's a rookie and it's to be expected that the pressure of the playoffs would get to him. But Boki Nachbar? He's slumping big-time, at the worst time of all, when the Nets could use a lift off the bench. With Boki missing everything (he shot 1 - 7 for the second game in a row), the second team struggles to get anything going, and it's killing the Nets. And right now, it's all too easy to defend them, which spells doom.
Clock Watchers - The Nets managed to make but 3 field goals in the decisive fourth quarter, and they all came in the first five minutes of the quarter. That's terrible execution, now isn't it? They also blew three huge free throws (2 by Carter, 1 by Jefferson) which didn't help the cause, since the last 10 points they scored came on free throws. Ouch. (of course, the Cavs can't shoot free throws either, and James missed 2 of his 4 free throws in the last 3+ minutes).

The Change of Seasons
Thanks to another time-stopping performance by LeBron James and his mates, the Nets could be looking at the change of seasons as early as Wednesday night after failing to get another winnable game in this series. Down 3 - 1, and looking awfully inconsistent, the Nets will now need to dig down deep and come up with 3 straight wins, including 2 on the road. We're not saying that's impossible, but reality is the Nets, even with "The Big Three", just can't seem to find the right gear to move themselves to victory against the Cavs. The Nets might even steal Game 5, but beyond that...with Kidd's knee still hurting, Carter's up and down moments, and RJ's struggle with LeBron, it's going to be an uphill climb. In the season of inconsistency, would you expect anything else?
-Joe