Brooklyn Nets: 10 best seasons in franchise history
By Phil Watson
3. 2002-03 New Jersey Nets
After reaching their first NBA Finals in 2002, the New Jersey Nets made one big offseason move, picking up four-time Defensive Player of the Year Dikembe Mutombo from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Keith Van Horn and Todd MacCulloch.
The move addressed the weakness in the middle exploited by Shaquille O’Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals.
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Or so they Nets believed.
The follow-up to the most successful NBA season in franchise history wasn’t without its share of hiccups, the first coming in late November when Mutombo shredded ligaments in his wrist and would miss most of the season.
He was a shell of himself after his return, taking on a bench role and playing sparingly in the playoffs.
Kerry Kittles’ troublesome knee, which cost him all of the 2000-01 season, flared up as well. The shooting guard missed 17 games.
Second-year man Jason Collins stepped into the void left by Mutombo’s injury and was, in fact, a big body in the middle. His contributions beyond that were minimal.
The biggest change was at the 3, where second-year player Richard Jefferson stepped into Van Horn’s old slot and scored 15.5 points per game and helped the Nets to the best defensive rating in the NBA.
Jason Kidd stepped up his scoring, improving to a team-best 18.7 points a game to go with his 8.9 assists and 6.3 boards, and veteran reserve Lucious Harris stepped up behind Kittles to average double-figures for the only time in his 12-year career.
New Jersey was 26-9 at the end of a 10-game winning streak that bridged the new calendar year, but the Nets were uneven the rest of the way, going 23-24.
That was enough to repeat as Atlantic Division champions, one game ahead of the 76ers, but the Detroit Pistons eked out the Eastern Conference’s top seed with a 50-32 record, one game better than New Jersey.
But the Nets turned on the afterburners in the playoffs. After needing six games to get by the seventh-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, New Jersey ripped through the Boston Celtics — who had upset Philadelphia in Round 1 — in four straight games to return to the conference finals.
Their opponent was the top-seeded Pistons. The Nets drew first blood, as Kidd drained a 20-foot jumper with 1.4 seconds left in Game 1 to propel New Jersey to a 76-74 win.
The Nets held off the Pistons in Game 2 with some solid late defense. After Jefferson put New Jersey ahead 88-86 with a pair of free throws with 48 seconds left, Detroit got two looks in their final two possessions, but had to settle for Chauncey Billups‘ long 3-point attempt as time expired.
Back home in New Jersey with a 2-0 lead, the Nets showed their playoff experience, stepping on the throats of the Pistons in a pair of relatively easy wins, with Kidd scoring 34 in a 97-85 Game 3 win and adding 26 in a 102-82 dismantling of Detroit to complete the sweep.