Mavs 88
Nets 79
DALLAS -The Mavs are, the Nets agree, “a nightmare team to guard.” So you must do all the other elements.
You must rebound. The Nets did. You must shoot. The Nets did. You must control pace. The Nets did. And you must play with energy, passion and hustle. The Nets did all that. And still it was not enough.
“We’re so close but still so far,” said Jason Kidd after the Nets became Dallas’ NBA-high 46th victim as the Mavs registered an 88-79 victory here last night, their sixth straight triumph over New Jersey.
“We played hard, competed, challenged every shot, rebounded the heck out of the ball,” said Byron Scott, who has not beaten the Mavs in his three seasons with the Nets. “We did everything we were supposed to do except get the ‘W.’ “
And that ‘W’ eluded them because the Nets (38-23, losers of 5 of 6) added to the folly of 23 turnovers by choosing the most inopportune time to go belly-up on the offensive end.
In a fourth quarter that began with a staggering array of 13 lead changes – “A grown man like me shouldn’t have to work so hard,” quipped Dallas coach Don Nelson – the Nets went stone cold and missed 12 of their final 14 shots while the Mavs unleashed their seemingly endless supply of offense.
With the score tied at 75 after Steve Nash (24 points) broke down the defense for a drive yet again to end that string of lead changes, the Nets clanged six straight shots and threw in a turnover, while Dallas received five of Dirk Nowitzki’s 24 points – a layup and a trifecta, Nash assisting on both.
Although the Nets never quit, the game, as it turned out, was over.
“We put a lot of pressure on the offense due to not getting stops or if we got a stop, we turned the ball over,” said Kidd, who scored 13 points and shot 5-of-15 (he was 1-of-17 here last season).
Kenyon Martin (18 points, 9 rebounds) stalled the Mavs’ drive but then Dallas got another score from Nowitzki before sandwiching a Richard Jefferson (7 points) basket with a deuce by Nash and a 3-pointer by Michael Finley (15 points) for an 86-79 lead with 1:29 left.
The Nets missed their last seven shots – just one more factor that negated a 53-36 advantage off the glass that was led by a ferocious assault from Jason Collins (10 boards) and Aaron Williams (13 points, 8 rebounds).
“We played hard but turnovers hurt us,” Martin said. “We had a chance, but they made big shots when they needed to. They can put the ball in the hole, so we wanted to make them play at our pace and we did that for the most part.”
And so the Nets, who have been struggling for anything positive during a post All-Star break run that has seen them lose eight of 12, now face the unenviable task of going into San Antonio tomorrow night as their four-game trip continues.
“We played the best team in the league down to two minutes. That’s a positive. And nobody got hurt. That’s another positive,” Kidd said.
When you’re going like the Nets have been going, you take what you can.