Jason Kidd had much less to say about his $25,000 fine Friday than he did about officiating on a conference call Thursday.
“It’s a beautiful day outside,” Kidd said with a smile at his press conference before the Nets’ 97-83 Game 6 victory Friday when asked about the penalty.
That being said, it appeared — at least by looking at the stat sheet — Kidd’s money was well spent. The Nets wound up drawing 25 fouls on the Raptors while only committing 14 themselves, and enjoyed a 25-20 edge in free throw attempts.
The fine itself didn’t come as a surprise, considering Kidd singled out referee Tom Washington — who was one of three officials he referred to as “three blind mice” after a call went against the Nets while he was a player in a game in Detroit back in 2006 — for failing to call a foul when DeMar DeRozan banged into Shaun Livingston as he attempted to grab a rebound on the Nets’ final offensive possession.
“I thought Shaun made a heck of a play to come up with the rebound and get fouled right in front of Tom Washington, but no call was made,” Kidd said during the conference call. “So, with that being said, [Andray Blatche] came up with the ball and his intention was to get the ball to Deron [Williams], and it just didn’t work out.”
Kidd has now been hit with $75,000 in fines this season. He was smacked with a $50,000 fine back in November for intentionally spilling a drink by running into guard Tyshawn Taylor late in a loss to the Lakers in Brooklyn.
After insisting all series long that he wouldn’t do so, Kidd chose to extend Kevin Garnett’s minutes in Game 6, and it paid off.
Garnett finished with 13 points and five rebounds in 26:35, making five of his seven shots and giving the Nets much-needed activity at both ends of the floor.
“He had a whopping six more minutes than I normally would [give him],” Kidd said. “KG was great, he’s always been great for us.
“When you have a guy like that you can lean on down the stretch when things got a little stagnant he stepped up, hit a big shot, got rebounds. But that’s who he is. He’s a future Hall of Famer, and he loves this situation, and he responded.”
For Garnett’s part, he scoffed at the notion Kidd limiting his minutes previously had anything to do with him playing well in Game 6.
“Fresh is not a word I would use.”