Nets look to avoid sweep at home

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (Reuters) -- No team has ever swept the middle three games of the NBA Finals, and the New Jersey Nets must stop the San Antonio Spurs from becoming the first if they are to keep their championship dreams alive.

The Nets, and their All-Star guard Jason Kidd, had a disappointing performance at the Meadowlands on Sunday, with the Spurs taking a 2-1 series lead with an 84-79 win in Game 3.

Since the Finals went to a 2-3-2 format in 1985, the eight teams that have won Game 3 to break a 1-1 deadlock have gone on to claim the title.

One thing the Nets will have to do before Game 4 on Wednesday is cut down on turnovers. They committed 20 in Sunday's loss.

"As far as we're concerned, we had too many turnovers," said Nets coach Byron Scott. "We can't turn the ball over like that; that's not our team.

"We probably pressed a little bit, but the biggest difference was probably the fact we had 20 turnovers.

"You have to give them credit -- they made big shots, big plays, big stops when they had to."

The Nets have focused much of their attention on finding a way to limit the damage done by Tim Duncan.

The Spurs' two-time league MVP had 21 points and 16 rebounds in Sunday's game, but it was Tony Parker who led the way with a game-high 26.

"He [Parker] had a great game," said Scott. "He had 26 points, so he is knocking down shots on a consistent basis.

"It's a minor setback. We want to get this thing tied up and then we'll start talking about Game 5."

Duncan said the Spurs let a win slip away in San Antonio and along with it a chance to put the pressure on New Jersey.

They won't let that opportunity slip away again.

"It's a weird series because it goes 2-3-2," said Duncan. "It's kind of like we don't have home court yet with two games remaining here.

"But it was great to get back to this point.

"We would have loved to come here 2-0 and really put the pressure on them, but we are right where we want to be.

"We have an opportunity to go into Game 4 and get another one and really put them on their backs."

 

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