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NEW YORK POST
JUST PUTRID! NETS STINK UP SWAMP IN UGLY LOSS
By FRED KERBER
November 3, 2007
Earlier in the day, the Nets virtually shredded the notion of a rivalry existing between them and the Raptors. Sure, they met in the playoffs last season. But that hardly makes a rivalry.
Then last night, for one game at least, the Nets proved their point, especially if you adhere to the theory of former coach Byron Scott, who claimed you need two good teams to have a rivalry.
The Raptors were good, very good. The Nets were not.
"We didn't show any energy," Jason Kidd said. "It was a butt-kicking."
The crowd unleashed a loud chorus of boos during a 7:18 third-quarter stretch in which the Nets missed 11 straight shots, while the Raptors were running off 18 unanswered points.
Actually, it was kind of surprising the fans waited that long to uncork the venom. They could have done so at any point beyond the mid-first quarter of Toronto's 106-69 avalanche victory at the Meadowlands.
This was the Raptors' most lopsided road win in their history, their second-biggest win ever (they had one by 39). The bright side for the Nets, they may have come up with a new corporate sponsorship idea.
The Pampers Stinky Game of the Month. Certainly this wasn't the Remington Rifle Shooting Display of the Week. Yeah, the Nets were stinky - and not just because they shot .368 to Toronto's .506.
"I'd rather see this game happening now than later in the season," said Boki Nachbar (eight points). "But this has got to be the last one we have like it this season. This is it."
No arguments from coach Lawrence Frank, whose crew plays tonight in Philly. Here's a sampling of his disgust:
"On every end they completely outplayed us. It was a very, very, very, very disappointing and unacceptable performance. . . . We didn't compete. We didn't play very smart. We obviously didn't play very hard. I don't want to take anything away from Toronto. They came into our building and totally embarrassed us."
The Raptors crushed the Nets in every way, but especially from long range. Toronto, with six double-figure scorers including Andrea Bargnani with 21 points, shot 13-of-22 on 3-pointers, with seven different players connecting on at least one. Gimpy-kneed Chris Bosh scored 15 points and Juan Dixon scored 14.
The Nets' offense was summed up in two words. Yeah, the words could have been lousy and crummy, but Richard Jefferson is more accurate. Jefferson scored 27 points. All the other Nets scored 42, none reaching double figures. Vince Carter shot 2-of-6 with seven points, Kidd was 1-of-5 with two points. Nenad Krstic tallied nine.
"We just took one straight in the mouth," Carter said.
"It adds a lot to it, being in this building, we did lose here in the playoffs and that puts a significant factor into it," Bosh said, recalling the Raptors' playoff defeat.
Pick a nightmare, any nightmare and the Nets suffered through it. Halftime arrived with Bosh intercepting a Kidd full-court heave in an attempt to beat the buzzer. Bosh corralled the ball, stepped up and unleashed from the far 3-point arc. Naturally, it swished in. Officially, it was a 55-foot shot but it was actually more like 70. Must be the U.S. exchange rate now that the Canadian dollar is virtually priceless.
"They get a steal and hit a half-court shot. Sometimes you've got to be like, 'it's not your night,' " Jefferson said.
The second half was pure torture.
The evening began well for the Nets then turned quickly. A first quarter that contained Carter's 15,000th career point ended in a 21-21 tie and then it came apart as the Raptors bench led the rampage. For the half, the Nets bench was 1-of-9 with three points, 26 behind Raptor reserves whom shot 13-of-21.
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