One of the biggest surprises to come out of the Nets’ 94-87 win Saturday in Toronto in Game 1 of their best-of-7 series with the Raptors was the absence of Andrei Kirilenko from Kidd’s rotation.
But when Kidd was asked about it following Sunday’s practice, he said it just was how the game unfolded.
“It wasn’t predetermined,” he said. “I went with Alan right off the bench, it’s just feel and that’s the reason why.”
Kirilenko’s signing last summer was a coup for the Nets, giving them a versatile combo forward that does a nice job of moving the ball offensively and can defend several positions.
And, judging by Kidd’s comments Sunday, it seems likely Kirilenko will see the floor in Game 2 back in Toronto on Tuesday.
“I have a deep team and you’ve got to go — it’s about winning the game,” he said. “[Kirilenko] didn’t get in. That doesn’t mean that he’s not going to play any of this series.
“That’s just one game. We got the win, now we move on. Every game is going to be different.”
If Kidd was fazed by the moment of working the sidelines in his first playoff game as a head coach, he wasn’t sharing.
“It’s basketball, so nothing changed from the 82-game season,” Kidd said of picking up his first postseason win as a coach. “I didn’t think there was anything different that they did.”
His players didn’t see anything different, with Paul Pierce saying Kidd’s calm demeanor — not to mention his 19-year NBA career filled with more than 150 playoff games — served him well in his playoff debut on the bench.
“He was as I expected,” Pierce said. “He’s been in pressure situations. I think it’s just carried over from being a player to a coach … [he’s just] very calm in timeouts, very understanding of what he wants to do out there, very confident.
“That’s what you saw him do as a player. That’s what you see him do as a coach.”
Toronto’s GM Masai Ujiri surged a pregame crowd to “F— Brooklyn.” The Raptors won the Atlantic Division over the heavy preseason favorite Nets. Now they are playing each other in the playoffs.
But there’s no rivalry, the Raptors claimed.
“I don’t think it’s a rivalry at all. We just play them a lot because we’re in the same division,” Raptor Kyle Lowry said.
“The whole Atlantic Division is a rivalry,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. “We haven’t gotten to the spot where we can say, ‘Hey, they’re our rival.’ New Jersey has been to the Finals before. We haven’t.”
Safe to say “New Jersey” isn’t a rival.
Casey refused to call Game 2 a “must” win.
“I wouldn’t say it is a must-win. I don’t know what the numbers are on an 0-2 but I am sure it is dire.”
Lowry said he was not surprised by the endgame heroics of Pierce and Kevin Garnett. “I mean, they’re Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.”. . . One objective for the Raptors in Game 2 is slowing Deron Williams. “He was really aggressive. He got some open looks in transition,” Lowry said . . . Regarding Ujiri’s profanity toward Brooklyn, Casey said, “All the stuff that has happened, you are very supportive of whatever Masai said, [but] this is about basketball.”. . . DeMar DeRozan on his tough playoff debut: “I really wasn’t nervous [but] it felt like things were going faster than it was.”. . . Amir Johnson said the Raptors must attack Nets small lineup. “We’ve definitely got to crash the boards a little more and go inside.”