Mr. Ho, meet Mr. Hum.
A two-point game that involves two potential game-tying situations in the final 1.1 seconds barely qualifies as excitement these days in the madhouse that is the NBA playoffs.
This one featured no record-setting fourth-quarter comebacks or buzzer-beating game-winners.
But New Jersey gladly settled for exorcising the demons from its complete collapse in Game 3 and tying the NBA Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece Monday with its 94-92 victory over Boston.
The series returns to New Jersey for Game 5 on Wednesday night.
The Nets regained home-court advantage, handed the Celtics their first home playoff loss and ultimately quieted a delirious, sellout Fleet Center crowd of 18,624 with the triumph, which featured only one tie and no lead changes. Ho-hum, indeed.
“Nothing to it,” joked Lucious Harris, whose two free throws with 6.6 seconds left provided the game-winning points.
OK, so Game 4 contained a little more excitement than that. In fact, Boston rallied from a 15-point third-quarter deficit and had its leading scorer, Paul Pierce, at the free-throw line with a chance to tie and 1.1 seconds to go. But when his first free throw fell short, Pierce deliberately missed the second and watched teammate Tony Battie grab the rebound. Battie’s 5-footer in traffic fell off the rim at the buzzer.
“For all you people who doubted us and said this series was over, you do not understand that you’re dealing with a team that has a lot of heart,” defiant Nets coach Byron Scott said. “We knew we blew Game 3. But this team has had this type of resiliency all season long.”
Leading from the game’s first basket to the final buzzer–the Celtics pulled even only once, with 17.6 seconds remaining–New Jersey accomplished what it couldn’t Saturday, when the Nets blew a 21-point lead after three quarters.
Simply put, the Nets withstood every charge–literally–and answered every big basket with one of their own. Jason Kidd, narrowly missing a triple-double with 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, withstood most of the charges, drawing three offensive fouls in the fourth quarter.
Keith Van Horn, who finished with 21, scored six straight points for New Jersey but missed a 15-footer with the Nets up 92-90 and less than 30 seconds to go.
On the other end, Aaron Williams fouled out as he went to double-team Pierce, and the Boston forward drained both free throws with 17.6 seconds left to tie the score.
Boston then double-teamed Kidd, who found Harris as he streaked to the basket and drew a foul on Battie. Harris swished both attempts.
On the final possession, Pierce tripped over Van Horn as he drove the lane, drawing a foul, and stepped to the line with the game in the balance.
“I stepped up and fell short,” said Pierce, who led all scorers with 31 points but went 10-for-15 from the line. “When we win, I get credit. When we lose, I’ll take the criticism.”
Nets guard Kerry Kittles, who entered 0-for-17 from three-point range, avoided more criticism by leading New Jersey with 22 points, including four three-pointers. The Nets went 10-for-21 from three-point range, which was critical since both teams shot 32-for-78 overall and finished with 43 rebounds.
Antoine Walker added 30 for Boston.
Afterward, Kidd danced around at center court, holding aloft two fingers on each hand to signify the state of the series and screaming at Boston fans something that looked suspiciously like the word “choke.”
“You try to win with grace and dignity,” Kidd said. “But I was tired of being humble. Now this is a series.
“We’re at the point where we’re getting tired of each other. You get tired of hearing these guys chitchat. As a veteran, sometimes you have to speak out because you feel better.”
The Nets felt fine Monday night.
