A rematch of the NBA Finals was nothing like the original.
Jason Kidd had 27 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the New Jersey Nets took control early and defeated the struggling Los Angeles Lakers -- the team that swept them in the finals -- 98-71 on Thursday night.
The events of last June were still on the minds of the Nets as they played before their first sellout crowd of the season, but New Jersey bore little resemblance to the squad that went down so humbly in the championship series.
The Nets went ahead by 17 in the second quarter and stayed in control the rest of the way, with Kidd hitting a succession of shots late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to prevent the Lakers from getting within striking distance.
``We as a team understand what happened last year, but this was a regular-season game,'' Kidd said.
``Everybody is talking about revenge, but this was more or less trying to protect home court and trying to get off a two-game losing skid.''
The loss dropped the Lakers' road record to 2-12, including 0-6 against teams from the East.
Los Angeles is 10-17 -- the 11th best record in the competitive Western Conference.
``We were talking yesterday about what our position was as a basketball club, how unbelievable it is to think that we could be in 11th place,'' coach Phil Jackson said.
``Someone said, `We're not an 11th-place team.' And I said `Yeah, we are, we're an 11th-place team. We have to face that reality. That's exactly what we are.''
The Lakers certainly didn't show any of the form that led them to three consecutive NBA championships, but that's nothing new this season for a team that's experiencing more hardship than it has in years.
Kobe Bryant was 5-for-18 in the first half and finished with 21 points on 8-for-29 shooting, while Shaquille O'Neal took only seven shots in the first half against New Jersey's double- and triple-coverage and finished with 19 points.
``It was better tonight. I'm being totally honest with you, it was better tonight,'' Bryant said.
Exactly what was better was hard to discern, although Jackson credited his team for playing with a competitive edge, though it did not change the result.
``This team is slowly getting some life behind it,'' Jackson said. ``Some of our players played tense and tight and as a result we were unable to make the right plays at the right time.
Lucious Harris scored 19 and Kenyon Martin 16 for the Nets, who improved 13-1 at home.
The Lakers missed 12 of their first 13 shots before O'Neal had a dunk and a layup on consecutive possessions for a 10-9 lead. Bryant finished 1-for-8 in the first quarter and Los Angeles shot just 27 percent as it trailed 21-18.
New Jersey stretched its advantage to 42-25 on an alley-oop dunk from Kidd to Richard Jefferson before the Lakers cut their deficit to nine, 46-37, at intermission.
O'Neal scored 10 points in the third quarter as the Lakers tried to seize the momentum, but Kidd prevented it by making two jumpers and drawing a charge in the final two minutes to help the Nets take a 68-59 lead into the fourth.
New Jersey outscored the Lakers 30-12 in the fourth quarter to account for the final 27-point margin. ``It's another victory that helps our home record and gets us going again,'' Jefferson said.
``This game did not give us any redemption for losing in the finals last season.''
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