2001–02 New Jersey Nets season

Draft picks

Main article: 2001 NBA draft

Roster

• Byron Scott
• Lawrence Frank
• Eddie Jordan
• Mike O'Koren

Roster notes

• Forward/center Jamie Feick was on the injured reserve list due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, and missed the entire regular season.

Regular season

Standings

Game log

|- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 | October 30 | Indiana | W 103–97 | Keith Van Horn (26) | Jason Kidd (10) | Jason Kidd (9) | Continental Airlines Arena 8,749 | 1–0 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2 | October 31 | @ Boston | W 95–92 | Jason Kidd (21) | Todd MacCulloch (12) | Jason Kidd (10) | FleetCenter 14,158 | 2–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 3 | November 2 | @ Detroit | L 88–102 | Richard Jefferson (17) | Kidd & Williams (6) | Jason Kidd (5) | Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076 | 2–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 4 | November 3 | Charlotte | W 95–85 | Keith Van Horn (28) | Keith Van Horn (9) | Jason Kidd (8) | Continental Airlines Arena 6,532 | 3–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 5 | November 8 | Seattle | W 106–94 | Todd MacCulloch (29) | Keith Van Horn (12) | Jason Kidd (13) | Continental Airlines Arena 5,277 | 4–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 6 | November 10 | Cleveland | W 87–84 | Kenyon Martin (18) | MacCulloch & Van Horn (10) | Three players (4) | Continental Airlines Arena 5,631 | 5–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 7 | November 13 | @ Indiana | W 91–82 | Jason Kidd (20) | Keith Van Horn (13) | Jason Kidd (10) | Conseco Fieldhouse 15,188 | 6–1 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 8 | November 16 | New York | W 109–83 | Kenyon Martin (21) | Kenyon Martin (8) | Jason Kidd (15) | Continental Airlines Arena 15,638 | 7–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 9 | November 17 | Philadelphia | L 82–94 | Kenyon Martin (16) | Kidd & MacCulloch (9) | Jason Kidd (12) | Continental Airlines Arena 17,318 | 7–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 10 | November 19 | @ Denver | L 96–99 (OT) | Kenyon Martin (28) | Richard Jefferson (8) | Jason Kidd (13) | Continental Airlines Arena 11,319 | 7–3 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 11 | November 21 | @ Utah | W 90–89 (OT) | Jason Kidd (18) | Todd MacCulloch (11) | Jason Kidd (6) | Delta Center 17,413 | 8–3 |- align="center" |- style="background:#fcc;" | 80 | April 14 | @ Toronto | L 82–101 | Collins & Scalabrine (16) | Brian Scalabrine (9) | Anthony Johnson (5) | Air Canada Centre 19,800 | 51–29 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 81 | April 16 | Detroit | L 98–103 | Kerry Kittles (30) | Aaron Williams (8) | Jason Kidd (7) | Continental Airlines Arena 15,084 | 51–30 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 82 | April 17 | @ New York | W 99–94 | Four players (13) | Keith Van Horn (8) | Jason Kidd (5) | Madison Square Garden 19,763 | 52–30

Playoffs

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 20 | Indiana | L 83–89 | Jason Kidd (26) | Kenyon Martin (13) | Jason Kidd (9) | Continental Airlines Arena 18,555 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 22 | Indiana | W 95–79 | Jason Kidd (20) | Jason Kidd (10) | Jason Kidd (9) | Continental Airlines Arena 20,049 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 26 | @ Indiana | W 85–84 | Jason Kidd (24) | Keith Van Horn (12) | Jason Kidd (6) | Conseco Fieldhouse 18,345 | 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | April 30 | @ Indiana | L 74–97 | Kenyon Martin (13) | Kenyon Martin (6) | Jason Kidd (6) | Conseco Fieldhouse 18,345 | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | May 2 | Indiana | W 120–109 (2OT) | Jason Kidd (31) | Kidd, Martin (8) | Jason Kidd (7) | Continental Airlines Arena 20,049

NBA Finals

Summary

The following scoring summary is written in a line score format, except that the quarter numbers are replaced by game numbers.

Aspects

Amid tensions between co-captains Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, the franchise had another stellar season, finishing 58–24 (.707), good for second in the Pacific Division and earning the third seed in the Western Conference. Bryant and O'Neal were voted starters in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, where Bryant won the game MVP trophy in his hometown Philadelphia. The duo appeared on the All-NBA First Team and Bryant was honored with an NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection.

Entering the 2001–02 season, the New Jersey Nets were enduring a three-year playoff drought and had a 73–141 record over that span. In 1999, the Nets hired Rod Thorn as team president and immediately, he hired the recently retired Byron Scott to coach New Jersey. Thorn then dealt for Stephon Marbury in a three-team trade with the Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, trading Sam Cassell away to the Bucks. Due to the Nets' 31–51 season in 1999–00 season, they had the first overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, which they used to select power forward Kenyon Martin out of the University of Cincinnati. Despite the reshuffling of the roster and a Rookie of the Year season for Martin, New Jersey struggled, ending the season with a 26–56 (.317) record, and were bestowed the 7th pick in the upcoming Draft.

With another lottery pick, Thorn dealt it to the Houston Rockets for draftees Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong. The next day, Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo announced a franchise-shaking trade; Phoenix would swap their point guard Jason Kidd for his New Jersey counterpart Stephon Marbury.

With the Princeton offense installed from the coaching staff,{{cite web|work=The New York Times

Game One

Los Angeles's Staples Center sold out for the inaugural game of the 2002 NBA Finals, with nearly 19,000 on hand. The Nets trotted out a lineup of Kidd, Kittles, Martin, Van Horn and MacCulloth to hold up against the two-time defending and heavily favored champions. The Lakers brought out Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, Shaquille O'Neal, Robert Horry, and Kobe Bryant, who drew the assignment of guarding Kidd. New Jersey head coach Byron Scott, a member of the Showtime Lakers, received a standing ovation.

Taking advantage of a late arrival to the arena by New Jersey, L.A. dominated the first 17 minutes of play with a 42–19 score by the 6:41 mark in the second quarter. From that point on, the Nets went on a 17–6 to close the lead to a respectable 12. They had no answer for O'Neal, however, who had bullied MacCulloth into 16 points and 6 rebounds by half-time. The Nets outscored the Lakers in the third but stood steadfast as Bryant scored 11 of his 22 in the third.

New Jersey battled back, coming as close as three several times in the final quarter. Desperate to take the lead, they utilized the "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy midway in the fourth. It backfired, as O'Neal was 5–8 from the free throw line and had 16 points and 9 rebounds in the period alone.

New Jersey was doomed by their late start and poor shooting. The Nets, who shot 45% from the field and 74% on free throws were 39% and 57% respectively.{{cite web|magazine=Sports Illustrated

Recap

Game Two

The second game was more of a statement as the Lakers clobbered the Nets by a score of 106-83 thanks to Shaquille O'Neal's 40 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Recap

Game Three

Game Three would prove to a hard-fought game (much like the first game of the series) as the Lakers and Nets would trade leads throughout the game but thanks to Kobe Bryant's 36 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks the Lakers prevail by a score of 106–103 to take a commanding 3–0 series lead.

Recap

Game Four

Despite this being a hard-fought battle (much like the previous game and as well as the first game of the series) the Lakers still won game four and the championship, giving Phil Jackson his Red Auerbach-tying ninth title and the Lakers their third consecutive title (and fourteenth overall) making them the fifth team to win three consecutive titles and denying the Nets their first ever championship since the franchise moved to East Rutherford.

Recap

Player statistics

Regular season statistics

As of April 17, 2002 |- | 35 || 0 || 5.6 || .318 || .294 || .500 || .5 || .2 || .2 || .0 || 1.8 |- | 77 || 9 || 18.3 || .421 || .500 || .701 || 3.9 || 1.1 || .4 || .6 || 4.5 |- | 25 || 0 || 10.0 || .319 || .000 || .722 || 1.8 || 1.2 || .3 || .2 || 2.9 |- | 9 || 0 || 5.6 || .200 || || .500 || .6 || .6 || .1 || .2 || .6 |- | 74 || 0 || 21.0 || .464 || .373 || .842 || 2.8 || 1.6 || .7 || .1 || 9.1 |- | 79 || 9 || 24.3 || .457 || .232 || .713 || 3.7 || 1.8 || .8 || .6 || 9.4 |- | 34 || 0 || 10.8 || .411 || .333 || .640 || .9 || 1.4 || .9 || .0 || 2.8 |- | 82 || 82 || 37.3 || .391 || .321 || .814 || 7.3 || 9.9 || 2.1 || .2 || 14.7 |- | 82 || 82 || 31.7 || .466 || .405 || .744 || 3.4 || 2.6 || 1.6 || .4 || 13.4 |- | 62 || 61 || 24.2 || .531 || || .671 || 6.1 || 1.3 || .4 || 1.4 || 9.7 |- | 20 || 0 || 5.9 || .276 || .500 || .667 || 1.1 || .3 || .2 || .0 || 1.5 |- | 73 || 73 || 34.3 || .463 || .224 || .678 || 5.3 || 2.6 || 1.2 || 1.7 || 14.9 |- | 28 || 0 || 10.4 || .343 || .300 || .733 || 1.8 || .8 || .3 || .1 || 2.1 |- | 4 || 0 || 2.5 || 1.000 || || 1.000 || .5 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 1.3 |- | 81 || 81 || 30.4 || .433 || .345 || .800 || 7.5 || 2.0 || .8 || .5 || 14.8 |- | 82 || 13 || 18.9 || .526 || .000 || .699 || 4.1 || .9 || .4 || .9 || 7.2

Playoff statistics

As of June 12, 2002 |- | 17 || 0 || 13.4 || .364 || || .658 || 2.4 || .4 || .3 || .4 || 2.9 |- | 20 || 0 || 20.9 || .489 || .364 || .830 || 2.7 || .9 || .7 || .0 || 8.9 |- | 20 || 0 || 22.1 || .465 || .000 || .550 || 4.6 || 1.3 || .6 || .5 || 7.0 |- | 19 || 0 || 8.5 || .377 || .100 || .818 || .7 || 1.1 || .3 || .0 || 2.6 |- | 20 || 20 || 40.2 || .415 || .189 || .808 || 8.2 || 9.1 || 1.7 || .4 || 19.6 |- | 20 || 20 || 29.0 || .435 || .265 || .778 || 3.2 || 2.3 || 1.6 || .5 || 12.1 |- | 20 || 20 || 19.2 || .491 || || .613 || 5.2 || .7 || .3 || 1.4 || 6.2 |- | 7 || 0 || 2.0 || .200 || .000 || 1.000 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .4 |- | 20 || 20 || 37.5 || .424 || .222 || .691 || 5.8 || 2.9 || 1.2 || 1.3 || 16.8 |- | 6 || 0 || 2.3 || .333 || .000 || || .5 || .0 || .0 || .2 || .3 |- | 20 || 20 || 32.2 || .402 || .440 || .714 || 6.7 || 2.1 || 1.0 || .5 || 13.3 |- | 20 || 0 || 20.8 || .479 || .000 || .826 || 3.5 || .8 || .4 || .8 || 6.5

Awards and records

• Rod Thorn, NBA Executive of the Year
• Jason Kidd, All-NBA First Team
• Jason Kidd, NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Richard Jefferson, NBA All-Rookie Team Second Team

References

References

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