The Brooklyn Nets are on the brink of elimination. After a second-half comeback in the regular season, the Nets had the momentum entering the postseason. They appeared to be operating on all cylinders as they prepped for a faceoff with the Toronto Raptors. However, things have not gone as planned as most of the veteran starting lineup has played a disappearing act in the last two games.
Many NBA analysts said Brooklyn's advantage was their experience. Between Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Deron Williams, playoff games were no big deal. Pierce has thrived in the postseason over his career and Garnett always appears to turn five years younger come the time of the playoffs. However, they have not shown that this season, forcing Jason Kidd to make key lineup decisions.
At a certain point in the third quarter of Game 5, the Raptors had taken an 85-59 lead. At the start of the fourth, Kidd went with a lineup that consisted of Joe Johnson, Williams, Alan Anderson, Mirza Teletovic and Andray Blathche, not exactly what Brooklyn had in mind when they made that marquee trade for Garnett and Pierce in the offseason. However, the group began to score and shrink the Raptors' lead. They went on a 29-7 run and eventually got the score tied at 101 with 3:18 left to play. Pierce and Garnett sat on the bench and cheered.
"I really wasn't thinking about it," Pierce said, via ESPN.com. "I was on the sideline cheering on my teammates, they did a lovely job of getting back in the game and giving us a chance and that was the unit that was out there. They deserved to be out there to give us a chance, a shot at winning it," Pierce added. "While we are on the sideline, we have full confidence in them."
Kidd admitted that the lineup the team was running with was simply not working. The result was Pierce only getting 10 points in 24 minutes while Garnett had four points in 12 minutes. It is just another chapter in the limited play Garnett has seen since struggling with injuries in the regular season. Kidd says this type of lineup could be seen again in Game 6 if it works.
"I thought the guys on the floor were fighting and they got us back in the game," Kidd said. "I asked [if] they were tired and those guys weren't tired, so they wanted to continue to keep playing. So it was more of a rhythm. The guys were knocking down shots. When you have guys playing the way they did and fighting, you've got to leave those guys out there."
The Nets feel the urgency. As the series heads back to Brooklyn for an elimination game, the veterans are stressing taking care of business at home. After being viewed as Eastern Conference champions in the preseason, a first-round exit would be extremely disappointing.
