The first game of the NBA playoffs just ended, with the Nets winning 96-91 at Toronto.  

The Nets dominated the first half.  Chris Bosh had two early fouls, which forced him to the bench for most of the first half.  Bosh finished with 6 points and only one rebound at the break.  The Nets opened up a lead with Bosh out of commission.

Richard Jefferson had 17 points in the first half, mostly off feeds from Jason Kidd, who had 11 assists in the first half.  Kidd only had one turnover, with 20 seconds left in the half. The whole Nets team looked to pass in the first half, including Carter and super-sleeper Nachbar.  Bostjan had 2 assists and 7 points in the first half, including a big three when the Raptors cut the lead to 44-41 that ignited a 7-0 run to end the half.

TJ Ford has 14 first half points, but only one assist and two turnovers, and never really pushed Kidd, settling for jumpers and looking for his shot with Bosh out, not getting anyone else involved too much (the Raptors FG% shows the coldness of their shooting, as it hovered around 40% for most of the first half).

The Nets finished with 18 assists versus 4 TO in the 1st half; Carter and Kidd had 11 of the Nets 21 rebounds, helping make up for the lack of height in the Nets frontline.  The Raptors, minus Bosh, were barely able to outrebound the Nets 23-21.

We're not sure why the Nets decided to wear red uniforms (according to the ESPN broadcasters, it "was their favorite road color"), but with the home Toronto crowd dressed in all-red, the Nets looked the part more than the Raps did.  In fact, the Nets uniform was one maple leaf short of looking like Canada.  The crowd was quite loud and active, booing every time Carter touched the ball and being very supportive of the Raptors in general.  Great afternoon crowd.

Vince Carter sat most of the third quarter after picking up his fourth foul early.  Never the less, the Nets kept doing what they were doing in the first half, running with Jefferson and Kidd get up court quickly.  The Nets had a 18-4 advantage in fast break points at one point, and well, if a 34 year old point guard and a small forward just removed from ankle surgery are out running TJ Ford (one of the fastest guards in the league) and Chris Bosh, well... things are going well.

Jefferson had 10 points in the third, bringing him up to 27 total.  Nachbar and the guards continued to pound the boards, and the Nets out-rebounded the Raps 18-6 in the quarter.  Kidd has 13 assists through three, where as the Raptors (as a team) had only 12 (with 11 TOs).  Turn this mutha out....

The Nets lead 78-65 at the end of three.  The Raps were only shooting 39%, and unable to muster much offense.

We hate the word "contact".  Especially in the past tense, as in "Carter contacted Parker".  Nah, dude... Carter fouled Parker.  If he "contacted" Parker, it was to ask him where to go clubbing in Toronto (King Street, right?).

Toronto had a 15-3 run that got cut the lead to 83-82, thanks to 8 points from Jose Calderon.  Jose took TJ Ford's place, and sparked this run, hitting two big threes and adding a nice drive to the basket.  At this point in the game the Nets' big stars were struggling in the fourth:  Richard Jefferson was 0-4, Carter 1-4, and Kidd had barely any impact.  Then our boy Nachbar hit the big shot, nailing a three with 2:40 that made it 87-83.

Speaking of Nachbar, lost in all the talk of how diverse the Raptors team is (yes, I know, look at the big Italian and those Spaniards), this game has to have a set a NBA playoff record for Slovenians, with Nachbar, Nesterovic and Uros all in uniform.  

Player of the game:  Jason Kidd, on his way to a triple-double for the series, had 8 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds.

Shot of the game: Nachbar's big three.

 

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