EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey, 15 June 2003 — Tim Duncan hit for a game-high 29 points on Friday, putting the San Antonio Spurs on the brink of their second NBA title in five years with convincing 93-83 win over the New Jersey Nets.
The victory gives the 1999 champion Spurs a 3-2 lead as the series shifts back to San Antonio for Game Six on Sunday and Game Seven, if necessary, on Wednesday.
The Nets will now have to make NBA history if they are to return home with their first championship trophy, no road team having ever won Games Six and Seven since the league switched to the 2-3-2 format in 1985.
“You talk about must wins, this is a must win,” Nets coach Byron Scott said.
“The bottom line is we have to go up there and concentrate on Game Six and win that game before we can think about Game Seven.
“It’s a tough loss, we had a golden opportunity and we didn’t get the job done.”
With control of the series on the line, two of the NBA’s dominant players stepped up to stamp their mark on the contest.
Duncan, the Spurs two-time league MVP, overshadowing another brilliant performance from All-Star point guard Jason Kidd, who also had 29 points in what might have been his final home game in a Nets uniform. “If happens to be case, if it was my last game I think it was pretty good,” Kidd said.
“It was do-or-die, you had to go out there and leave it on the court and that was my mindset tonight.
“I gave everything I had, I left everything out there and unfortunately we came out on the wrong end of the stick.”
Kidd, this season’s prize free agent who is rumoured to be heading west next season to join Duncan and the Spurs, got the contest off to an explosive start hitting for nine points in the opening six minutes.
The six time all-star finished the first quarter with 12 but it was the Spurs, led by an eight point effort from Duncan, who carried a slim 19-18 edge into the second.
A series dominated by plodding defensive strategies and woeful shooting, looked ready to breakout out after a wide open, entertaining first quarter.
But the Nets struggled to find their range shooting just 26 percent from the field as the Spurs patiently constructed a 42-34 half-time advantage.
The second half began the same way as the first, with Kidd holding the hot hand draining 12 of the Nets first 16 points as New Jersey surged back to grab a 50-49 advantage.
But again, despite Kidd’s best efforts, the Nets found themselves trailing entering the final quarter, Duncan countering with nine points to keep the Spurs ahead 66-57.
Down by nine with 6:25 on the clock and the capacity crowd of 19,280 on the edge of their seats, New Jersey mounted a rally slicing the deficit to two 78-76.
But the Nets would get no closer, their comeback stalled by costly turnovers, shaky shooting and some clutch play from the Spurs seldom-used veteran Steve Kerr.
The four-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls and the Spurs hit two pivotal three-pointers down the stretch to give San Antonio a winning cushion.
“Steve is just incredible, he’s the definition of a veteran,” said Duncan, who also had a strong night on the boards hauling in 17 rebounds.
“The guy is always ready to go. He doesn’t play for games in row, then his number is called and he’s ready to go.
“He knows how to play the game and as you see, he shoots the ball incredibly.”
The Nets cause was hurt by the lack of production from their leading scorer and rebounder Kenyon Martin, who had been battling the flu and had a sluggish outing finishing with just four points.
