The New Jersey Devils held up their end of the bargain now the Nets must try to hold up theirs starting with Game 4 of the NBA finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
With the Continental Airlines Arena still reverberating from the Devils Stanley Cup victory on Monday, the Nets will try to soak up some of those good vibrations and get back into a best-of-seven series that appears to be slipping away.
The Devils have put their victory party on hold while New Jersey sports fans throw their support behind the Nets, hoping to make it double celebration as the Eastern Conference champs attempt to bounce back from an 84-79 loss in Game Three and even the series at 2-2.
NBA history would dictate that Game 4 is nothing less than a must-win situation for the Nets.
No team has ever lost the final after opening up a 3-1 lead and the Spurs have not absorbed three consecutive defeats the entire season.
"You come into this building this afternoon and you have sense of champagne and beer," Nets all-star guard and leader Jason Kidd said.
"They just celebrated a championship and so the people of New Jersey are well-deserving of that and the Devils have started a trend.
"Hopefully, we can follow that up with the NBA finals trophy.
"Our goal is to come out and win Game 4 to have a chance to win the series.
"We've played well at home all year and it shouldn't stop now.
"I'm not putting anything on my shoulders, I'm just going to go out there and play the game that I love to play.
"We have to go out and execute our game plan, be active, get the crowd involved, and put the ball in the basket a couple of more times."
Putting the ball in the basket is something Kidd and the Nets are having a problem doing with any consistency and one of the reasons they find themselves in their current hole.
When Kidd is on his game, like in Game 2 when he ran the team's fast break offense to perfection and hit 30 points, the Nets win.
When he isn't like in Game 1, when he shot just 4-of-17 from the field, and Game 3, when he went 6-for-19, they are in trouble.
Nets fans will take comfort in the fact that Kidd, one of the NBA's grittiest competitors, usually follows up a poor effort with a brilliant one and will be expecting such a performance.
Throughout the finals, Kidd has been outshined and outplayed by young Frenchman Tony Parker, the Spurs flashy point guard who paced San Antonio with a game-high 26 points in Game 3.
One of the intriguing sub plots of these championships, is the head-to-head match-up between the 21 year-old Frenchman and Kidd, who will be this season's prize free agent and rumored to be moving west next season to take Parker's position.
The Spurs have made no attempt to hide their interest in the 30 year-old Kidd, who is rated among the best playmakers the NBA and a six-time all-star.
But Kidd's coach is convinced that the player is only concentrating on this series.
"I think he [Kidd] is thinking we're down two games to one," Nets coach Byron Scott said.
"I don't think that he's thinking that he's not playing his best or that Tony is playing real well.
"I think he's thinking the New Jersey Nets have one win and the San Antonio Spurs have two. I think that's the main thing that's on his mind."
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