Given the opponent they faced and how they played in the NBA Finals a year ago, the New Jersey Nets are thrilled to be going against two-time defending MVP Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs this time around.
That's not a knock at Duncan.
The Nets don't match up well against Shaquille O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers, and they admit it.
When Shaq wants to play -- which he did last year in leading the Lakers to a sweep and a third straight NBA title -- there is little the Nets can do to stop him.
Against any other team, they feel they have a shot.
"Thirty-four is not there, so that helps," Jason Kidd said Friday as the Nets practiced for the first time knowing their opponent for the NBA Finals, which start Wednesday. "Shaq changes the game by being out there. San Antonio has a guy like that in Tim Duncan."
But it's still not the same. The Spurs don't have a Kobe Bryant, and Duncan isn't Shaq in terms of size and bulk.
He's lighter and more athletic, someone Nets power forward Kenyon Martin can battle.
"Any time you put Shaq in the equation, it's going to be rough," said Martin, who has emerged as one of the league's top defensive players.
"So everybody has a chance when you don't have to deal with him. No matter who came out of the East or the West, everybody started looking at that and saying they had a legitimate shot, knowing the big guy's not in there."
The Nets also believe they are much better than a year ago, both on the court and in their approach to the finals.
A year ago, they were just happy to be in the finals after Kidd turned them from a laughingstock into a first-time conference champion.
In the year since, Martin has become both a force inside and a leader. Richard Jefferson has moved into a starting role and become the third option. Kerry Kittles is stronger in his second full season back from another knee surgery, and Jason Collins is emerging in the middle.
Forwards Aaron Williams and Rodney Rogers and guards Lucious Harris and Anthony Johnson give the Nets depth.
"I think all our players feel a little more confident than we did last year," coach Byron Scott said. "Last year, we said all the right things, but I don't believe we truly felt we could beat the Lakers. We felt we could compete with the Lakers but we didn't feel we could beat them.
"This year is a totally different situation," Scott said. "We have a lot of guys who are peaking at the right time. As a team, we are peaking at the right time."
The Nets are rolling into the finals on a 10-game winning streak. They have won 12 of 14 postseason games.
The big concern for New Jersey is its extended layoff. Because of their sweep of Detroit, the Nets will have been idle for 10 days when they take the court in San Antonio on Wednesday.
The Spurs nailed down their conference title on Thursday night, finishing off Dallas in six games.
"I don't care if it was a two-week layoff," Scott said. "You are playing for the NBA championship. I don't see where we're going to lose any type of focus.
"We might be a little rusty when the game starts, but as far as our intensity and our focus, our aggressiveness, being as hungry as we are to win a championship, I don't care if it's two weeks or three weeks. We'll be ready to play."
The Nets and Spurs split two regular-season games. Each team won on its home court.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS