Nets Beat Hornets to Win 13th Straight

The New Jersey Nets are playing so well, even their sick players are playing like “Superman.”

Kenyon Martin had 23 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and four blocks, and the Nets tied the longest winning streak in the NBA this season -- 13 -- with a 97-84 victory Saturday over the New Orleans Hornets.

“To be truthful, I really didn’t feel well, but I’m here so I am going to show up and play,” said Martin, who also had two assists in 40-plus minutes despite having trouble breathing because of a sinus infection.

The one play that everyone talked about after the Nets won their 12th straight under Coach Lawrence Frank was Martin’s block on a three-point shot by Darrell Armstrong with 6:33 left in the game.

New Jersey had a 14-point lead at that point, but the block was special.

Martin jumped out to the top of the right key to guard Jamal Mashburn and then leapt from about a step outside the left side of the key to deflect the shot from deep in the left corner.

“Kenyon Martin is Superman,” Frank said. “I have never seen a block like that. He was guarding five people in one possession.”

The Nets also haven’t lost in a while.

The victory extended Frank’s league record for best coaching start and tied the North American mark for the best start in pro sports.

Joe Morgan took over the Boston Red Sox from John McNamara in 1988 and won a dozen. Jim Price won that many after taking over the baseball New York Giants in 1884.

“Our mind-set is not about losing,” the Nets’ Jason Kidd said. “Our mind-set is about getting better each time we take the floor.”

Kidd finished with 11 points, nine assists and nine rebounds to just miss out on his 59th career triple-double, which would have tied him with Larry Bird.

Mashburn led the Hornets with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Baron Davis added 17 points. Neither shot well, though, as they combined to go 17 for 48 from the field.