TORONTO — After the Nets lost exactly a year ago Sunday to the Bulls on their home floor in Game 7 of their first-round series, general manager Billy King stood on the court inside the team’s practice facility the next morning and declared the Nets didn’t want to find themselves in the same situation in the future.
“The pain we have now,” King said, “is something we don’t want to have again.”
So King went out and did what he could to make sure the Nets didn’t, sending three draft picks — plus the right to swap a fourth — to Boston to bring Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and their vast playoff experience with them. Now, after the Nets dominated the Raptors in Game 6 on Friday night in Brooklyn to send this series back to Toronto for Game 7 on Sunday, they will be counting on that experience to help them move on to a matchup with the two-time defending champion Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“It’s going to be fun,” Pierce said after Game 6. “This is what the NBA is all about, these pressure-type moments. These are the types of games that elevate the good players to great players. It’s an exciting time, and we’re going to enjoy it.
“It’s a hostile environment — win or go home. … This is the type of situation that I love and want to be in. I love our chances.”
Coach Jason Kidd made some headlines when he left Pierce and Garnett on the bench for Brooklyn’s fourth quarter comeback from a 22-point deficit in Game 5, but when facing the end of his first season as coach in Game 6, Kidd didn’t hesitate to go to them early and often.
Pierce finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, helping space the floor offensively and create driving lanes for Deron Williams while helping Williams contain Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry in the pick-and-roll defensively.
But it was Garnett, in particular, who seemed to turn back the clock in Game 6, putting together possibly his best performance of the entire season. Although Kidd had said repeatedly Garnett wasn’t going to see his minutes increase in the playoffs after limiting him to around 20 throughout the regular season and first five games of the playoffs, Garnett finished with 26 minutes Friday and took full advantage of them, scoring 13 points to go with five rebounds and two blocked shots, and had two big baskets in the fourth quarter to help thwart Toronto’s comeback attempt.
“It was all on the line,” Garnett said. “I just had to go into an adventurer’s bag of tricks. I went into it and it worked for me. … [Now it’s] the same thing in Game 7.”
A year after the Nets were sent home in a Game 7 loss to the Bulls at home and King went out and brought these two aging icons to Brooklyn to make sure it didn’t happen again, Pierce and Garnett now have a chance show that was a wise move to make.
“We’ve got to come out ready to play,” Garnett said. “This is all-out. Win or go home.”