History Says Nets in Must-Win Bind

Not that there’s any pressure or anything, but history suggests that unless New Jersey Coach Byron Scott comes up with some new wrinkles for Game 2 of the NBA Finals tonight the Nets are toast.

Since the league implemented the 2-3-2 format for the Finals in 1985, no team has lost the first two games and come back to win the series. Also, an 0-2 hole would force the Nets to either win the three middle games at home or the last two games on the road -- and neither of those feats has been accomplished since 1985.

Scott didn’t sound as if he would alter his strategy for defending Tim Duncan, even though Duncan scored 32 points in San Antonio’s 101-89 victory in Game 1. But he did sound amenable to changing his player rotation.

“It’s not a matter of us making a whole lot of adjustments, just a matter of doing what we need to do better,” Scott said. “We didn’t do it very good the last game.”

That means plenty of single coverage by Kenyon Martin against Duncan. Martin played the league’s most valuable player about as well as could be expected, but foul trouble limited him to only 15 minutes in the second half -- when Duncan scored 24 points.

One alternative could be to play Dikembe Mutombo. Injuries and advancing age (he’ll be 37 June 25) limited Mutombo’s effectiveness this season after he was acquired from Philadelphia. He played only 33 minutes in the first 14 playoff games, but he played six effective minutes Wednesday night.

“He did some good things,” Scott said. “It’s got me wondering if I should play him a little bit more. And then I have to start thinking about which guys do I cut down as far as time is concerned. But in the first half, I thought he did a good job.”

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Mutombo said, “”Energy-wise I was feeling like I was 20 years old again. Maybe from sitting so long and doing nothing. I’m going to be ready again for [tonight].”

He had a bandage above his lip from an elbow he caught from David Robinson. No hard feelings, though.

“It was just ‘Welcome Back, Deke. Where you been?,’ ” Mutombo said.

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Spur Coach Gregg Popovich is asking a lot from Robinson in the waning days of Robinson’s career.

“I want him to go out with a flair, leave everything out on the court,” Popovich said. “I want him to dig down deep. If something hurts, we don’t care. If there’s a ball to be had, we want him to go get it. If there’s a call made for him, we want him to get it to the rim. We want him to just be a monster.”

Robinson answered the call in Game 1, with 14 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots in 27 minutes.

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With far less fanfare, this is “probably” the last go-round for Spur reserve guard Steve Kerr.

“I wouldn’t want to make a decision until after I had some time to relax and unwind and see how my body feels,” Kerr, 37, said. “A month after the season, if I’m dying to get out on the floor and work out and prepare and get ready for another year, maybe I’ll try it. It wouldn’t be right to make a decision right now.

“I’m leaning that way. I’m leaning toward retiring. But we’ll see.”

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The best smack of this series so far comes from Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Mayors and governors often make sporting bets on big events, with local cuisine or products at stake. But Perry didn’t appear interested in betting his New Jersey counterpart.

“I don’t know of anything in New Jersey that we’d want,” Perry told the San Antonio Express-News.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

NBA FINALS

SAN ANTONIO VS. NEW JERSEY

Spurs lead best-of-seven series, 1-0

Game 1...San Antonio, 101-89

Tonight...at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m.

Sunday...at New Jersey, 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday...at New Jersey, 5:30 p.m.

June 13...at New Jersey, 5:30 p.m.*

June 15...at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m.*

June 18...at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m.*

*if necessary All times PDT