Big win by the Nets yesterday, beating the Raptors 102-89 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The story was pretty much Kidd and Carter. Which we figured it would be. We didn't take notes on the game, as we were out at a happy hour afterwork (yes, I have a real job, 9-5 yo). We caught most of the game on the TV, in between checking out the Sox-Yankees game, and the Mets-Nationals game. If you want some game notes, check out HoopsAddict.
What we saw was a quick start by the Nets, sparked by Kidd's passing and Vince Carter's drives. As soon as we saw Vince going to the hoop regularly - and he did, quite a few times, in the first half - we relaxed and new the game was in hand. Not only was he finishing on some amazing moves, but the Raptors don't have a big man in the paint who can knock Carter down. A Dale Davis/Charles Oakley type. You need those guys, because those guys turn Carter back into Air Pussy, the jump shot shooter.
"Vince came out early and took it to us. That was the thing we were afraid of," said Toronto's Mitchell, the NBA's coach of the year. "He started making some tough shots. I thought Jason Kidd, with the supposed so-called injury, was unbelievable. He dominated the basketball game. "
"The supposed so-call injury"? Sam, dude, don't antagonize the man who is averaging a triple-double against your team. But Sam Mitchell seems to think that the Raptors' problems stemmed from its' transition defense:
"We didn't get back on defence," he said. "We know they try to run at home. They get out and get easy baskets.
"I'm going to look at the film; if they're not gonna get back, they're not gonna play."
We don't think it was that the Nets were running, as much as it was that the Raptors lack strong interior defense. Again, a Marcus Camby blocker, or at least a Charles Oakley enforcer, and Vince Carter is not going to hit 9 of his first 10 shots, almost all exclusively in the paint.
And they couldn't stop Jason Kidd, who had 14 assists at the half. The Raptors, as a team had 14 assists in the whole game!
The reality is that the Raptors aren't a good road team - they went 17-24 away from home. They are going to need to win at least one more road game if they want to make it to the second round.
According to the Toronto Sun, the Raptors were totally out of it yesterday:
"Mitchell was in a foul mood at yesterday morning's shootaround at rain-soaked Seton Hall University. He was upset, he said before the game, because his players didn't appear to take the run-through seriously."
If they don't take this series seriously, then my prediction of Nets in 7 is going to be one or two games off....
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