Nets tie series with Celtics

Posted 7:34AM on Tuesday 28th May 2002 ( 23 years ago )

BOSTON - Players applauded behind the closed door of the New Jersey locker room, where 48 hours earlier they hung their heads after their historic collapse. On Monday night, the anguish was in the other room as the Boston Celtics contemplated how to recover from Paul Pierce's failure to snatch another win away from the Nets. ``That won't bother him one bit,'' Antoine Walker said. Pierce missed a free throw with 1.1 seconds left, deliberately missed the second, and New Jersey held on for a 94-92 victory Monday night that evened the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals at 2-2. Game 5 is Wednesday night in New Jersey. Now it's the Celtics' turn for a comeback in a series filled with them. There was Boston's rally from a 21-point deficit entering the fourth quarter, when Pierce scored 19 points, to win Game 3 Saturday 94-90. No team had won a playoff game after trailing by more after three quarters. There was Monday's comeback from that embarrassment - the Nets led 19-8 by hitting five 3-pointers and never trailed - to regain home-court advantage. Kerry Kittles, who led New Jersey with 22 points, had missed 17 straight 3-pointers before going 4-for-7. And there was Boston's surge from six points down with 3 1/2 minutes left that had raucous fans in the FleetCenter anticipating another comeback win. But Jason Kidd and his teammates didn't let it happen. ``We were the same guys that we were in Game 3,'' he said. ``It was just a matter of us knocking down shots, us being aggressive instead of being passive.'' So after the Celtics missed their shot at overtime when Pierce misfired and Tony Battie clanged the putback off the rim, Kidd showed by a simple gesture what the Nets had accomplished. He ran toward fans sitting across from his team's bench and held up two fingers on each hand. The series, he told them, was tied 2-2. Nets coach Byron Scott was confident his players would recover from what could have been a demoralizing loss. Before Monday's game, he stood outside his young team's locker room and discussed its chances. ``If you have a veteran team, it's a little bit easier to bounce back,'' he said. ``But we've got a veteran leader, which I really think is going to help us.'' That leader, Kidd, had 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and drew three charging fouls in the fourth quarter - the last as Rodney Rogers drove for a layup with the score 92-90 and 49 seconds left. ``That was big, but that is just Jason,'' Scott said. ``He is going to sacrifice his body to get a W.'' Pierce says it's crucial for Boston to toughen up early. New Jersey led by 15 and 13 points after the opening period of the last two games. ``If we're going to try to win this series and go on the road and get another win, we're going to have to stop their first-quarter outbursts,'' Pierce said. The Celtics also need better offensive balance. Pierce had 31 points, Walker 30 and the rest of the team 31. As in Game 3, Monday's game wasn't decided until the final seconds. The Nets couldn't capitalize when Kidd drew the charge on Rogers. Keith Van Horn, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds, missed a jumper and Walker rebounded with 31 seconds left. With 17 seconds to go, Pierce was fouled by Aaron Williams and made both shots, tying the game at 92. Then Kidd beat a double team with a pass to Lucious Harris, who was fouled with 6.6 seconds remaining. He made both shots. ``You've got 20,000 people out there screaming and trying to make you miss,'' Harris said. ``You just have to concentrate and try to knock them down.'' When Pierce went to the line after being fouled by Van Horn, the fans quieted down so he wouldn't be distracted. ``That didn't affect me. I just went up there and missed the shot,'' said Pierce, who had hit just 30 of 48 free throws in the first three games and was 10-for-13 to that point Monday. ``It felt good, actually. I released it, it was straight. I didn't put enough arc on it.'' The closeness of the series is reflected in Monday's statistics. Both teams hit 32 of 78 shots and had 43 rebounds. And the Celtics used a 16-3 run to cut a 67-53 deficit to 70-69 on Walker's 3-pointer with 13.4 seconds left in the third. But the Nets beat the Celtics in 3-pointers, 10-5. In the end, it was Kidd holding up two fingers on each hand, a message to a crowd that booed him when he touched the ball and briefly chanted ``wife-beater'' - a reference to his January 2001 arrest for striking his wife. The charges were dropped when Kidd underwent anger counseling and paid a fine. ``You try to win with grace and dignity,'' Kidd said. ``We weren't even supposed to be in this series. The series was over.'' Not by a long shot. NOTES:Walker had seven points in a 9-0 run that cut the Nets' lead after one quarter from 31-18 to 31-27. ... The Celtics ended the second with a 6-1 run and trailed 48-42 at halftime. ... Pierce had five steals but six turnovers, both game highs.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/5/194175