Scott Sees Right Through the Wrongs

Byron Scott didn’t stick to his guns for Game 2 of the NBA Finals. He switched holsters and tried out a new pair of Colt .45s.

As a result, the New Jersey Nets recorded their first NBA Finals victory in franchise history and evened this series with the San Antonio Spurs at one game each.

Nice shootin’, Tex.

Sometimes the best thing a coach can do is to admit he was wrong. Scott could have been stubborn after Tim Duncan had his way with the Nets to lead the Spurs to the “W” in Game 1. He disdains double-teams, almost as much as he dislikes playing Dikembe Mutombo.

He softened his stance on both during the Nets’ 87-85 victory Friday night.

Scott used a variety of schemes and defenders against Duncan, one of the reasons the Quiet Storm shot eight for 19. And he unearthed Dikembe Mutombo, who had been buried so deep in the bench Scott needed Indiana Jones to find him.

But the biggest adjustment was his ego. He tucked it away in his suit pocket instead of insisting that his way was right.

Not that there weren’t plenty of people offering suggestions.

It started during the game from the Greek Chorus in the broadcast booth, continued in the postgame media session, was put into black and white in the morning papers, then picked up again on the off day.

“I think everybody has an opinion, obviously,” Scott said before the game. “But I’ve always been the type of coach that I’m going to do what I think is best for our team. That’s how I am. I don’t listen to people who write papers about how to guard this guy, because unless you’re 7 feet and you’re writing for the newspaper and you’re guarding Tim Duncan, you can’t suggest anything to me as far as how to guard him. So I don’t pay it that much attention, to be honest with you.”

Except the second-guessing didn’t come from media alone. It came from his own players, including Kenyon Martin, who did guard Duncan in Game 1 and had six personal fouls to show for it.

“If [he’s] got it going, a fool wouldn’t [double],” Martin said. “If you’ve got any sense, you go double him.”

Having the team’s most aggressive player call him out in the midst of a second consecutive sweep out of the Finals would not have been good for Scott’s job security entering the final year of his contract next season.

It also would not have enhanced his prospects of ever coming to the Lakers. Facing the possibility of an 0-2 hole, the Nets needed this victory to have any chance in the series.

Scott needed this victory for his reputation. And, perhaps, to keep things tight with his team.

“In this league, the players can only suggest,” Jason Kidd said. “We talked about different things. Coach felt comfortable with trying to change up our philosophy of maybe doubling a little bit more.”

Scott is lucky he didn’t completely lose Mutombo, who played only 33 minutes in the first three rounds of the playoffs. But after Mutombo played six quality minutes in his audition Wednesday night, Scott gave him the entire second quarter and 20 minutes overall in Game 2. Mutombo responded. He blocked three shots, scared off a few others, grabbed four rebounds and -- as an added bonus -- scored four points.

“I’m a go-by-feel type of coach and if he’s doing his job, the team is doing well, I leave guys in,” Scott said. “That’s what Deke did. He came in the second quarter, did a heck of a job, and the same thing in the fourth quarter.”

Give Mutombo credit for staying prepared.

“I knew my team would need me down the road,” he said.

He said Wednesday’s game helped him get his (size 22) feet wet. Now he’s lobbying for a full bath.”I hope the coaches will take a good note of that and maybe give me a chance to play more,” he said.

Said Duncan: “I thought he played very well. He does what he usually does. He affects shots around the basket. I thought he was solid on the offensive end. I thought he was a big boost for them. He came out and played with a lot of energy.”

Who knows what made Scott change his mind?

Ultimately, he kept making the right calls. He even seemed to respond to another Game 1 criticism, that he held Martin out too long after Martin picked up his fourth personal foul. After Martin picked up No. 4 late in the third quarter Friday, Scott left him in for almost two minutes. Martin didn’t seem to have any complaints after the Nets’ victory and praised the defense on Duncan.

“We were trying to give him different looks and not give him a steady diet of the same thing,” Martin said. “Guys did an excellent job of digging down and making him guess.”

Spur Coach Gregg Popovich got the better of Phil Jackson in the Laker series, and his last-ditch call on seldom-used Steve Kerr helped the Spurs finish off Dallas in the conference finals. He certainly got the better of the matchup in Game 1 here. But his biggest gambit Friday -- a halftime screech at his squad -- backfired. The Spurs committed eight turnovers in the third quarter, when the Nets took control of the game.

Scott didn’t scream at the critics. He acknowledged them.

“We wouldn’t have gotten to this point if we weren’t doing something right,” he said before the game.

But they wouldn’t move ahead if he didn’t try something else.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.