Nets Victorious in Garnett's Return - The Official Web Site of Jason Kidd, Basketball Hall of Famer

Saturday marked a crucial day in the march of Coach Jason Kidd’s Brooklyn Nets toward the playoffs.

Less than 24 hours after picking up their 15th consecutive home win, the Nets proved they could win on the road as well when they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 105-101 at the Wells Fargo Center.

But perhaps the biggest development for Brooklyn in their trip to Philly wasn’t the road victory, but rather the return of big man Kevin Garnett.

After missing 19 games with a back injury, Garnett played just 13 minutes, but was productive with 10 points on 5-of-6 from the field, and his mere presence lifted Brooklyn’s energy on the tail end of their 18th back-to-back of the season.

“They’re happy to see the rookie back,” Coach Kidd said with a grin after the game. “His stat line might not show the numbers we all might have seen in the past, when he was younger, but he’s the glue of this team, and he’s helped us to where we are today, so we’re happy to have him back.”

Garnett got the Nets off to a great start in the first quarter when he grabbed the game’s first rebound off of a missed three-pointer. Brooklyn turned KG’s board into a transition bucket for Deron Williams to take an early lead. Garnett got on the scoreboard when he finished off a beautiful alley-oop from Pierce on the next Nets possession. Moments later he scored on a layup to make it 13-9.

He exited shortly thereafter, but the Nets kept up the drive in his stead and when Williams drove in for a layup, made the basket, drew a foul and sank the free throw, Brooklyn had an 11-point lead with 2:35 to go in the first. Philadelphia cut into that lead a bit in the final two minutes of the quarter, but behind a 63.2 percent shooting mark from the field, the Nets held a 27-21 advantage through 12 minutes of action.

The Nets grew their advantage in the second frame led by contributions from their reserves. Andray Blatche and Andrei Kirilenko led the charge, dominating on both ends of the floor to give their team a nine-point lead with 6:47 left in the half.

The run continued after Garnett and Pierce took the place of Blatche and Kirilenko.

Shortly after returning to the game, Garnett grabbed a rebound that led to a driving layup by Alan Anderson to once again make it an 11-point game. Philly scored the next two baskets, but KG stopped the run with a jumper off a feed from Pierce. Then, with 2:33 left in the half Garnett slammed home a huge alley-oop feed from Williams.

“That looked good,” Coach Kidd said. :It looked like he was 18-19 years old again. He was dunking the ball, his jump shot looked great. He was playing at a very high level. He understands what this time of year means.”

The combination of Williams (9 points), Garnett (8) and Pierce (7), plus a defense that forced eight first half turnovers gave Brooklyn the momentum and a 57-42 advantage heading into the break.

Coach Kidd had every intention of sitting Garnett for the entire second half, but KG’s first half performance was something Jason couldn’t ignore and with a little coaxing The Ticket earned a few more minutes of playing time at the start of the third.

J-Kidd didn’t regret the decision as Garnett got the Nets started in the third with another jumper off a Pierce feed and added a block, a rebound and an assist before exiting three minutes into the third with Brooklyn up 19.

“My thought at halftime was that he was done,” Jason said. “We had him going in the right direction. But he wanted a couple more minutes, and he was great. It looked like he didn’t miss a day. Hopefully he can build on it.”

The Nets eventually extended that lead to more than 20 points, but Philadelphia fought back and finished the quarter with a flourish to bring the score to 81-69 through three quarters of action.

The Sixers run continued into the fourth as they slowly chipped away at the lead against a Nets five of Shaun Livingston, Marcus Thornton, Anderson, Kirilenko and Blatche. Coach Kidd eventually brought back Williams to team with fellow starter Livingston as the backcourt to close the game, but he stuck with Thornton and brought in two other reserves, Teletovic and Mason Plumlee to close out, leaving Pierce and Joe Johnson on the bench. Jason explained the decision after the game.

“You never know in the playoffs, guys can be in foul trouble, or hurt, so other guys have to step in and help,” he said. “Tonight was a good example of that. We were playing with three point guards and two bigs, but those guys who finished the game came up with some big stops.”

The decision paid off for Brooklyn as Williams, Plumlee or Teletovic had an answer for every Philadelphia run. The Sixers pulled within three with under four minutes to go, but D-Will hit a triple and drew a foul. He completed the four-point play at the foul line to put the Nets in front by seven.

Philly scored eight of the game’s next 10 points to pull within one with 1:05 to go, but Williams fed Teletovic for a trey to extend the lead back to four and Brooklyn closed it out at the free throw line, where they were 6-for-6 in the final 30 seconds.

Coach Kidd was asked after the game about his team’s play down the stretch that nearly cost them the lead, but he praised Philadelphia’s fight and his own team’s counterpunch.

“Give them credit, they kept playing,” Jason said of the Sixers. “It gave us an opportunity to execute some late-game stuff. Guys made free throws and we got stops when we had to. There’s not a better time to get that and see which guys can handle different situations. Mirza took a tough shot and didn’t hit anything, then comes down and makes a big three for us. He also got us a tip out. So it was a great chance for teammates and coaches to see how guys handle these situations.”

NEXT UP

The Nets will take a two-game winning streak on the road with them as they head down to Miami to take on the two-time defending NBA champion Heat for the fourth and final time in the regular season.

Despite his fine start in Saturday’s win over the Sixers, Coach Kidd said Kevin Garnett will not play against the Heat, choosing to instead preserve him for Wednesday’s game in Orlando. He also mentioned that other players might get scheduled games off down the stretch to ensure they are ready for the postseason.

“The challenge is when to sit someone,” he said. “Understand when to rest someone. A lot of guys don’t like to take the day off, and I understand that. But it’s also understanding you want to be fresh, you want to be healthy, going into the playoffs.”

The previous three meetings with Miam all have gone Brooklyn’s way, though each matchup went down to the wire.

Coach Kidd missed their first meeting, on November 1st, when the Nets pulled out a 101-100 victory at Barclays Center, their first win of the season. The teams didn’t meet again until January, when the Nets battled back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat Miami 104-95 in double overtime at Barclays Center.

Most recently, on March 12, Brooklyn got the best of the Heat once again with lock down defense in the final minutes of the game to secure a 96-95 win at American Airlines Arena in Miami.

“They’re a good team,” Miami’s Chris Bosh told Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. “We expected them to do that. We know how it is, coming together and struggling to get the chemistry right. But once you get it right and figure out what you’re doing, they’re pros, and so we expect a tough fight, and we owe them.”

Tip-off of Tuesday’s game in Miami is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on TNT.