On Tuesday night in Miami, Coach Jason Kidd’s Nets begin a playoff series that will serve as the ultimate test for a rookie coach and his roster, a battle with the two-time NBA defending champion Miami Heat.

Since Miami began its current run with the additions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the summer of 2010, few teams have been capable of derailing the “Big Three,” but of the short list of those who have, Jason has been on the other side many times.

It started back in 2011 when the newly constructed trio marched into the NBA Finals and appeared well on their way to the first of the many championships they had promised. But standing in their path were the Dallas Mavericks, led by a Jason at the point. J-Kidd’s Mavs halted the Heat in six games, spoiling their fairytale first year together.

Dallas Mavericks v Miami Heat - Game 2

Many gave credit to Jason throughout the series and since, for his role as a leader, facilitator and defender against the Heat. However, when asked about that triumph, Coach Kidd gave a customary team-centric response and downplayed his success against the talented trio.

“It was the Dallas Mavericks,” Jason said. “I just happened to be on the team.”

It could have been just coincidence, but the numbers suggest that, just maybe, the Brooklyn Nets head coach has something of a formula to beat the now two-time defending NBA champions.

Starting with that 2010-11 season, Jason’s teams have gone 13-5 against the Heat. Two of the losses came in the 2011 Finals, another two came in the 2012 regular season, and one came last year while Kidd was on point for the New York Knicks.

Impressively, none have come this year. Coached by J-Kidd, the Nets swept the Heat 4-0 this season. That will give them some confidence entering the Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup with Miami.

Brooklyn Nets_Miami Heat

 

Every time a team has swept an opponent 4-0 in the regular season and the two met in the playoffs, the team that held the broom also won the postseason series.

However, while encouraged by the regular-season success, Jason knows that the slate is wiped clean, and the Heat will bring a whole new level of intensity for the postseason.

“We understand that we can use some of the things we have done in the regular season,” J-Kidd said. “But it’s 0-0, and it’s the first team to four. Tonight it starts and we have to find a way to get a win on the road.”

Brooklyn Nets All-Access Practice

While Jason is brushing aside his personal record against Miami, including a 3-1 mark last year while with the Knicks, the big talk of the series has revolved around the rivalry between Brooklyn’s Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and the Big Three.

Pierce and Garnett logged several intense playoff battles with the Heat while playing for the Boston Celtics. Miami emerged victorious in back-to-back years in 2011 and 2012, but the C’s pushed the Heat to the brink. Boston also had several heated series with the James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. The two veterans have a wealth of experience against James and the Heat. That familiarity is a major reason they were brought to Brooklyn.

“This is the second round, so everything heightens,” Coach Kidd said on the Boomer and Carton radio show. “There is history with KG and Paul and LeBron and the Heat so that’s just another storyline for this series. You have two future Hall-of-Famers in KG and Paul trying to find a way to dethrone the champs.”

Nets Introductory Press ConferenceNeither Jason nor his players have been afraid to say it: They’re out to win a championship. And they’ve known all along that road would go through Miami.

“The goal hasn’t changed since the beginning of the season,” Pierce said. “Our goal when we came in here at the beginning was to win a championship. We understand that in order to do that, you’ve got to go through the best, and Miami being that team over the last couple of years, we figured this was going to be a test for us, this was going to be a series that we would have to see if we are going to accomplish our goal.”

Between them, Coach Kidd, Pierce and Garnett have a combined 55 seasons of experience and will put their heads together to figure out a way to accomplish that goal. They might have the “secret formula” all figured out, they might not. Either way, they know it’ll have to start on defense.

“We’re going to need everybody on board, just like in this last series

[when] everybody contributed,” Kidd said. “We’re going to need to throw different people at different guys and keep rotating and hopefully we can wear them down somehow.”

Deron Williams, Brooklyn’s floor general who acts as somewhat of an extension of Coach Kidd on the court, agrees. The point guard said it’ll require an all-out team effort to halt the vaunted Heat offense.

“If you sit there and play one guy on LeBron the whole game and give him one look, good luck,” Williams said. “You’ve got to try different guys on him, you’ve got to pay attention to where he’s at. Same thing with Dwyane. Both those guys, if they get going and get hot, they’re hard to stop. It’s about team defense. Our team defense has to be what we want it to be, where we want it to be in order for us to have a chance.”

For Brooklyn, a series victory over the Heat would signal its season coming full-circle. The Nets endured a poor, 10-21 start to the season, but their trust in each other—and in their head coach—pushed them over the hump and now into the conference semis.

“It’s a process. We didn’t get off to a great start, but we were able to use that as the journey continued,” Jason said Tuesday. “I told them from day one: ‘I won’t lie to you guys, I want the best for all 15 of you. We’re a deep team and I can’t play everybody. But as long as you believe and trust in me, we’re going to be fine.’ And that’s where it starts—those guys trust me.”

Toronto Raptors v Brooklyn Nets - Game Three

From the outside looking in, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra saw the same. He knew that, even despite some rocky beginnings, Jason’s leadership abilities would eventually pay dividends.

“He’s a leader,” Spoelstra said of J-Kidd. “He knows how to manage personalities. He knows how to get people together for a common goal.”

Now, that common goal of toppling Spoelstra’s defending champion Heat is within reach.

“Each series, every playoff game is going to be different,” Jason said. “You always have the opportunity to heighten your career and take it to the next level. That’s what the Heat have done in the last four years…For the Nets, this is a great opportunity to see where we are.”

Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semis between Jason Kidd’s Nets and the Miami Heat is set for a 7 p.m. EDT tip-off from the American Airlines Center and will air nationally on TNT.

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