Do-It-All Kidd Does In the Celtics

Get everyone involved. That’s what Jason Kidd wants to do.

The New Jersey Nets beat the Boston Celtics, 104-97, Sunday at Continental Airlines Arena in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals. They won because seven Nets scored in double figures, because they scored 48 points in the paint, because they outrebounded the Celtics by 11, because they were always moving, and doing all those things because Kidd was magic with the basketball.

Kidd was everywhere with his 18 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, the first playoff triple-double by a Net and the second postseason triple-double by Kidd (Laker fans should remember the first because it came against them two years ago when Kidd was in Phoenix).

Get everyone involved. Kidd must have that tattooed on his brain.

First Kidd fed Kerry Kittles for a layup. Then Kidd gave the ball to Kenyon Martin, who made a 13-foot jump shot. And after that he again hit Kittles to set up a windmill dunk. In the first quarter Kidd also made the pass that got Lucious Harris his first basket and generally kept the ball moving.

If Kidd wasn’t making the assist, he was grabbing a rebound.

“When Jason gets the rebound, we get the fastbreak basket,” Net center Todd MacCulloch said.

Kidd always seemed to be the guy in between bigger guys, outmuscling stronger guys, grabbing the missed shot and firing the blind pass to a running teammate.

Occasionally Kidd will take a shot. It’s not as if he is desperate to score, but sometimes Kidd has to.

In a third-quarter stretch in which the Nets broke open a close game, it was Kidd who did the scoring.

First, Kidd made a crafty defensive play. Paul Pierce, who had scored 14 points in the first quarter, thought he had a clear path to the basket. And he did until Kidd slid into a spot in front of Pierce and stopped. Pierce couldn’t stop and got his fourth foul, a charge, only 16 seconds after he had gotten his third foul.

There was 7:10 left in the third quarter and Pierce had to sit. He would have only two baskets in the second half and was left to fidget and fume on the bench while he watched Kidd take charge of the scoring.

Kidd made an 18-footer to give the Nets a 10-point lead, 73-63; he slipped in a finger roll to make it 75-66 Nets; made two free throws to put the score at 77-66; fed Richard Jefferson for a breathtaking alley-oop dunk and a 79-66 lead and got Aaron Williams the ball in a place where Williams could be fouled and make a free throw, twice in a row. Nets, 81-66, and Pierce put his head in his hands.

“When Kidd rebounds the basketball,” Celtic Coach Jim O’Brien said, “the Nets are as good as there is in getting from one end of the floor to the other. Their speed and quickness then become an issue for us and it was an issue for us the whole game.”

Boston, which had beaten the Nets three of four times during the regular season, never led, but did cut a 17-point lead to six. But there were less than two minutes left in the game and if the little run gave the Celtics a bit of bravado for Game 2, they weren’t really a threat in Game 1.

Pierce, who had said last week that the Nets had no one who could guard him after averaging 38 points against the Nets in the regular season, seemed to have a career in fortune telling after his 14-point first quarter. But even though he and Antoine Walker each had 27 points, it was Boston’s laggard defense and inability to keep the ball from Kidd that were the problems.

“Pierce and Walker are going to get their points,” said Kittles, who finished with 14 points, as did Keith Van Horn and MacCulloch. “But Pierce and Walker alone aren’t going to beat us and if we get our offense in rhythm it’s going to take more than a couple of guys to outscore us.”

The Net bench outscored the Celtic reserves, 35-15. Boston’s offense too often was Rodney Rogers or Tony Delk lofting an ill-timed three-pointer.

Game 2 is Tuesday. Pierce had a suggestion for his team.

“We didn’t play a lick of defense tonight,” Pierce said. “We didn’t keep an eye on things. We let Kidd do it all. That can’t happen again.”

Easier said than done.