CHICAGO – There were thoughts creeping in about how easy it would be to fold. There were flashbacks of hideous defeats, which in Nets lore is commonplace.
But there was a determination that last night would not be one of them.
So Richard Jefferson invited the Nets to get on his back and shoulders, and guys like Alonzo Mourning and Jacque Vaughn climbed aboard and turned what would have been an incredibly stinging defeat – they led by 27, OK? – into a rousing 111-106 double-overtime victory here over the Bulls.
“One thing I learned from Jason Kidd is, it’s not about scoring. You can do a million things to help dominate a game,” said Jefferson, who recorded his first career 20-20 game – compiling 26 points and a career-high 21 rebounds while missing a triple double by just one assist; two of his nine came on feeds to Mourning in the last 1:24.
“We just rode Richard,” said Jason Collins (16 points).
OK, so Jefferson, who forced the first OT with an oh-so-clutch jumper at :04.2, also had 11 of the Nets’ hideously ugly 31 turnovers.
“Obviously, it was far from a perfect ball game,” understated coach Lawrence Frank after his Nets overcame 34 points by Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich – who was the spearhead to a stunning 40-14 Chicago second half blitz that turned a 24-point deficit into a two-point lead for the Bulls.
The Nets, who made 24 straight free throws (19 in the first half) before finishing at 31-of-35, were cruising as the Bulls, with six rostered rookies and without the suspended Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis, were dreadful. The Nets skipped off the first 16 points of the second quarter when Chicago needed 5:02 to get a field goal. Yup, nothing could go wrong for the Nets. Then everything did. And nothing was settled until the final 1:24 of OT.
After an incredible sliding hustle play by Jacque Vaughn (16 pair) retrieved a rebound, Jefferson fed Mourning (17 points) for an inside score at 1:24. The duo hooked up again at :48.7, sandwiching two missed Chicago free throws. The Nets are home tonight against Phoenix, which will be a huge test, a back-to-back, for Mourning.
“I’ve just got to get my rest,” Mourning said.