Nets 88 Pistons 75
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – For nearly eight years, covering 14 games, the secret to winning here had befuddled the Nets like the mystery of life. Nothing they tried worked; everything they tried failed. Until last night, when the formula all came together.
Want to win at the Palace here? Just get Kenyon Martin back from an NBA-imposed one-game suspension and get him playing with enough energy to illuminate the lights on the Rockefeller Center tree. Then get Jason Kidd in another passing and leadership performance that leaves opposing coaches singing his MVP praises. Get domination in the paint. Add rock solid defense. Voila, victory follows. Simple.
And so, after applying all those elements and more, the Nets kept going for an 88-75 victory over the Pistons that ended a Palace skid that dated back to a Feb. 5, 1994 triumph. The win, their second in two nights, along with the Celtics’ 82-84 loss in Phoenix, left the Nets alone in first place in the Atlantic Division and gave them the best record in the Eastern Conference (18-9).
“If I would have come out and tried to do too much, I would have messed it up,” explained Martin, who while “just being Kenyon” did a lot of everything (21 points, four rebounds, three blocks) and messed up nothing – other than Piston star Jerry Stackhouse who wallowed through a miserable 7-0f-20 shooting, 16-point, 7-turnover horror.
“I was just playing him tough, contesting his shot like I’ve always played him before,” Martin said of his game vs. Stackhouse.
Martin, who sat out Wednesday’s victory in Cleveland for his flagrant foul on Karl Malone, was greeted here last night by the football team from his U. of Cincinnati alma mater (Cincy plays Toledo in the Motor City Bowl tomorrow). He hit 5-of-6 shots in the first quarter and then was the spearhead, along with Kidd, in a 12-2 spree that opened the third and gave the Nets a commanding 56-41 lead that never was questioned. And in that third quarter, which closed with the Nets ahead 74-57, Kidd displayed why Piston coach Rick Carlisle rates him as the “MVP in the East so far for sure.” Said Byron Scott: “Kenyon gets us going; Jason keeps us going.”
On one sequence, Kidd, who missed 10 of 11 shots overall, misfired but hustled in, grabbed the rebound and, while situated under the backboard, zipped a pass through traffic to Aaron Williams (12 points) for a layup score and a 68-52 lead.
That was a thing of beauty. But it wasn’t the play that left jaws dropping. Moments earlier, Kidd found a streaking Kerry Kittles (15 points) with a bounce pass, also through traffic, for a fast break bucket.
“The one he threw to Kerry, I don’t know how the ball got through there, I don’t know how he saw him with all the white jerseys running by. That pass was unbelievable,” said Scott, who didn’t seem to know where to praise his team first – on the defensive end where they limited Detroit to .383 shooting or on the offensive end where they rang up 27 assists on 36 baskets (Kidd had 18 assists, one off his Net high) and held a massive 48-18 edge on points in the paint.
“We felt we could make a little statement around the league,” Scott said. “I told our guys, ‘You’ve got to be warriors.’ “
So Martin started the war. And Kidd kept it going. And in typical Kidd fashion, he deflected praise toward his teammates – even on that pass dubbed unbelievable by Scott.
“Who was there not to go to tonight? That play, it was a great catch by Kerry,” Kidd said. “I believe I have to get the ball to my teammates no matter how it happens.”
Even going through opponents legs and finding the intended target, a streaking teammate. See, beating the Pistons here really isn’t that hard with plays like that.