Sweep: Nets eliminate the Pistons in 4

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- One year older and immeasurably wiser, the New Jersey Nets are back in the NBA Finals.

The Nets won their 10th consecutive playoff game Saturday night, running full steam to a 102-82 victory to complete an Eastern Conference finals sweep of the Detroit Pistons.

Jason Kidd put the game away after shaking off a twisted ankle in the fourth quarter and finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Kenyon Martin added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

It was New Jersey's Kidd-led fastbreak that again put its stamp on the game, with the Nets outscoring the Pistons 19-0 in transition -- and 94-15 for the series.

The Nets, who had five days off between their sweep of Boston and the start of the Detroit series, will have 10 days to prepare for the start of the NBA Finals on June 4. They will play either San Antonio or Dallas, who resume their Western Conference final series Sunday with the Spurs leading 2-1.

The Nets were a surprise finalist a year ago, but were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers. This year, they are determined to do better.

"Last year, we were just more than happy to be there," coach Byron Scott said before the game. "This year, we want to get back and prove it wasn't a fluke. And actually, we're a much better team than we were last year."

The victory came one day after the New Jersey Devils, the Nets' co- tenants in the Continental Airlines Arena, advanced to the Stanley Cup finals. It's the first time two teams who share the same building have advanced to the NBA and Stanley Cup finals in the same year since New York's Knicks and Rangers in 1994.

The Nets hold the fourth-longest single-season playoff winning streak in NBA history, behind the 1999 Spurs (12), the 2000 Lakers (11), and the 1989 Lakers (11). The all-time winning streak is 13 by the Lakers, spanning the 1988 and '89 seasons.

Clifford Robinson scored 21 points, and Richard Hamilton, Detroit's only reliable scoring threat in the series, had 20 for the Pistons.

As in Game 3, the Nets took the lead for good in the first quarter although this time things got uncomfortably close early in the fourth quarter -- especially when it appeared Kidd might have a serious injury.

The Pistons, showing the heart they lacked in the second half of Game 3, cut a 15-point third-quarter to six on Clifford Robinson's 3- pointer with 9:29 to play.

Then came the big scare: Kidd twisted his ankle grabbing the rebound off Hamilton's missed jumper with 6:59 to play. Kidd's right foot landed awkwardly on Ben Wallace's right foot, and the New Jersey point guard had a towel stuffed in his mouth to fight the pain as he lay on the court with the crowd chanting "M-V-P!."

"I stepped on somebody's foot, and I just twisted it," Kidd said. "It got my heart pumping faster. Once I knew I could stand up, I was all right."

Kidd limped off the court, but he didn't leave the game. The Nets called a timeout, and Kidd was back on the court when play resumed and started a 19-8 game-ending run. With 5:27 to go, Kidd started his own personal 8-1 run by getting free on a screen to hit a 17-foot jumper.

Kidd left to a standing ovation and a hug from Martin -- and more chants of "M-V-P!" -- with the score 96-75 with three minutes to play.

The Nets, as they have all series, had big advantages in rebounds - - 51-27 -- and points in the paint -- 50-26. For the third straight game, Martin scored within seconds of the opening tip. He had a dunk 6 seconds in, reminiscent of his dunk 6 seconds into Game 2 and his layup 4 seconds into Game 3.

From there, the Nets were off and running, outscoring the Pistons 8-0 in fast-break points in the first quarter. A 9-0 run, including two offensive rebound putbacks by Aaron Williams, pushed the lead to 28-17.

Hamilton, who spent most of the night sprinting back and forth behind screens, kept the Pistons close, but the Pistons hit one of their routine dry spells when he left at the start of the second quarter.

Detroit scored just two field goals in six minutes, but the Nets failed to take advantage with a mistake-filled period that included six turnovers, a missed open layup by Rodney Rogers and foul trouble for Martin and Jefferson, who each got his third before halftime.

Mehmet Okur and Chucky Atkins hit 3-pointers to cut Detroit's deficit to two. It was Kidd, 2-for-9 from the field at the time, who suddenly found his touch with two long jumpers to get the lead to 50- 41 at halftime.

The Nets opened the third quarter with 12-6 spurt, capped by Martin's breakaway dunk, to make it 62-47. But Detroit closed within nine at the end of the third, keeping within arm's length until Kidd's injury inspired the Nets to finish it.

NOTES: Detroit point guard Chuancey Billups, who played the series on a sprained ankle, shot just 1-of-8 and scored six points. He was 11-for-40 for the series . . . Detroit has lost eight straight Eastern Conference finals games, having been swept by Chicago in their last appearance in 1991 . . . The Pistons have also dropped 16 of their last 18 postseason road games . . . Although they advanced to the Eastern Conference finals, the Pistons finished the postseason with a losing record (8-9). The Nets, by contrast are 12-2 . . . Wallace got a technical foul for saying something to an official in the third quarter, giving Detroit five technicals in the series to New Jersey's one . . . Jefferson said before the game that he'd like to have both his team and the NHL's New Jersey Devils win their respective league titles, but had one question. "If you have a parade, where does it go?" Jefferson said. "The parking lot? Only in Jersey."

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