2002–03 New Jersey Nets season

The 2002–03 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 36th season in the National Basketball Association, and 27th season in East Rutherford, New Jersey.^[1] The Nets entered the season as runners-up in the 2002 NBA Finals, where they were swept by the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in four games. During the off-season, the Nets acquired All-Star center Dikembe Mutombo from the Philadelphia 76ers,^[2][3][4] and signed free agent Rodney Rogers.^[5][6][7] However, Mutombo only played just 24 games due to a wrist injury.^[8][9][10] The Nets got off a solid start with a 26–9 record, while posting a ten-game winning streak between December and January, and holding a 34–15 record at the All-Star break.^[11] However, the team played below .500 for the remainder of the season, but finished in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 49–33 record, while posting a successful 33–8 home record.^[12]

2002–03 New Jersey Nets season
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coach	Byron Scott
Arena	Continental Airlines Arena
Results
Record	49–33 (.598)
Place	Division: 1st (Atlantic) Conference: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Finals (lost to Spurs 2–4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	YES Network, WLNY
Radio	WFAN
< 2001–02 2003–04 >

Jason Kidd averaged 18.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and was selected for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game,^[13] In addition, Kenyon Martin averaged 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, while second-year forward Richard Jefferson showed improvement averaging 15.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and Kerry Kittles provided with 13.0 points and 1.6 steals per game. Sixth man Lucious Harris contributed 10.3 points per game, while Rogers provided with 7.0 points per game off the bench, and Mutombo averaged 5.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.^[14] Kidd also finished in ninth place in Most Valuable Player voting.^[15]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the playoffs, the Nets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in six games,^[16][17][18] then swept the 6th-seeded Boston Celtics in four straight games in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals,^[19][20][21] and then defeated the top-seeded Detroit Pistons in another four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference finals.^[22][23][24] For the second consecutive year, they made it to the NBA Finals. However, they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in a six-game series.^[25][26][27] Following the season, Mutombo was released to free agency, and signed as a free agent with the New York Knicks.^[28][29][30]

Offseason

On August 1, the Nets re-signed Chris Childs as a free agent; Childs previously played for the Nets from 1994 to 1996. Five days later, the organization traded Todd MacCulloch and Keith Van Horn to the Philadelphia 76ers for Dikembe Mutombo. On August 14, the Nets signed Rodney Rogers as a free agent. On October 25, they signed Anthony Johnson as a free agent. Their final offseason transaction would come three days later, when they waived Donny Marshall.

Draft picks

Main article: 2002 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	24	Nenad Krstić	C	Serbia and Montenegro
2	54	Tamar Slay	SG	United States	Marshall

Roster

2002–03 New Jersey Nets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From G 1 Brandon Armstrong 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1980-06-16 Pepperdine C 35 Jason Collins 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1978-12-02 Stanford G 12 Lucious Harris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1970-12-18 Long Beach State F 24 Richard Jefferson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) 1980-06-21 Arizona G 2 Anthony Johnson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1974-10-02 College of Charleston G 5 Jason Kidd 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 204 lb (93 kg) 1973-03-23 California G 30 Kerry Kittles 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 179 lb (81 kg) 1974-06-12 Villanova F 13 Donny Marshall  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1972-07-17 Connecticut F 6 Kenyon Martin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 234 lb (106 kg) 1977-12-30 Cincinnati C 55 Dikembe Mutombo 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1966-06-25 Georgetown F 54 Rodney Rogers 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1971-06-20 Wake Forest F 21 Brian Scalabrine 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 241 lb (109 kg) 1978-03-18 USC G 8 Tamar Slay 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1980-04-02 Marshall F/C 34 Aaron Williams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1971-10-02 Xavier

Head coach Byron Scott Assistant(s) Lawrence Frank Eddie Jordan Mike O'Koren Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-New Jersey Nets	49	33	.598	–	33–8	16–25	16–8
x-Philadelphia 76ers	48	34	.585	1	25–16	23–18	17–7
x-Boston Celtics	44	38	.537	5	25–16	19–22	13–12
x-Orlando Magic	42	40	.512	7	26–15	16–25	14–11
e-Washington Wizards	37	45	.451	12	23–18	14–27	11–13
e-New York Knicks	37	45	.451	12	24–17	13–28	9–15
e-Miami Heat	25	57	.305	24	16–25	9–32	5–19

#	Eastern Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Detroit Pistons	50	32	.610	–
2	y-New Jersey Nets	49	33	.598	1
3	x-Indiana Pacers	48	34	.585	2
4	x-Philadelphia 76ers	48	34	.585	2
5	x-New Orleans Hornets	47	35	.573	3
6	x-Boston Celtics	44	38	.537	6
7	x-Milwaukee Bucks	42	40	.512	8
8	x-Orlando Magic	42	40	.512	8
9	e-New York Knicks	37	45	.451	13
10	e-Washington Wizards	37	45	.451	13
11	e-Atlanta Hawks	35	47	.427	15
12	e-Chicago Bulls	30	52	.366	20
13	e-Miami Heat	25	57	.305	25
14	e-Toronto Raptors	24	58	.293	26
15	e-Cleveland Cavaliers	17	65	.207	33

Record vs. opponents

2002–03 NBA records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MEM	MIA	MIL	MIN	NJN	NOH	NYK	ORL	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	TOR	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	–	0–3	2–2	4–0	0–2	2–0	1–3	0–2	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–2	0–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–1	3–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	2–2
Boston	3–0	–	2–2	4–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–2	2–0	1–3	3–1	4–0	3–2	2–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–2	1–1	1–3
Chicago	2–2	2–2	–	3–1	0–2	1–1	0–4	1–1	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	2–2	0–2	2–2	1–3	2–1	1–3	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–2	1–1	1–3
Cleveland	0–4	0–4	1–3	–	0–2	1–1	0–4	1–1	1–1	0–4	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–2	0–4	0–2	2–2	1–3	1–2	0–4	0–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–1	1–1	0–4
Dallas	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	–	4–0	2–0	4–0	4–0	1–1	4–0	1–3	4–0	2–0	0–2	2–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–0	2–2	2–0
Denver	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–4	–	0–2	0–4	0–4	1–1	1–3	0–4	2–2	2–0	1–1	0–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–3	2–2	0–4	1–3	1–3	1–1	0–4	1–1
Detroit	3–1	2–2	4–0	4–0	0–2	2–0	–	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	1–3	1–1	2–1	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–1	2–0	3–1
Golden State	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–4	4–0	1–1	–	1–3	1–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	0–4	0–4	1–3	2–2	2–0	2–2	2–0
Houston	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–4	4–0	0–2	3–1	–	1–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–1	1–3	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–0	1–3	1–1
Indiana	2–2	2–2	2–2	4–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	–	2–0	0–2	1–1	4–0	3–1	2–0	1–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	3–1	1–1	2–2
L.A. Clippers	0–2	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–4	3–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–2	–	0–4	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–1	1–3	0–2
L.A. Lakers	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	4–0	1–1	2–2	2–2	2–0	4–0	–	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	2–2	2–0	3–1	1–1
Memphis	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–4	2–2	0–2	2–2	1–3	1–1	2–2	0–4	–	2–0	2–0	0–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–3	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–3	1–1	1–3	1–1
Miami	3–1	2–2	2–1	2–1	0–2	0–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–4	0–2	1–1	0–2	–	1–3	1–1	0–4	0–4	2–2	0–4	0–4	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	4–0	0–2	1–3
Milwaukee	2–2	2–1	2–2	4–0	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	0–2	3–1	–	0–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–2	0–2	2–1
Minnesota	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–2	4–0	1–1	3–1	2–2	0–2	3–1	2–2	4–0	1–1	2–0	–	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–3	2–0
New Jersey	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–2	2–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	4–0	2–2	2–0	–	2–2	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	4–0	0–2	3–1
New Orleans	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	0–2	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–0	2–2	1–1	2–2	–	3–1	1–3	2–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	4–0	2–0	2–1
New York	3–1	0–4	1–2	2–1	0–2	2–0	2–2	0–2	2–0	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–3	0–2	1–3	1–3	–	2–2	2–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–2
Orlando	1–2	2–3	3–1	4–0	1–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	0–2	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	4–0	2–2	1–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	–	2–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–2
Philadelphia	1–3	2–2	3–1	4–0	0–2	2–0	2–2	0–2	0–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	4–0	2–2	1–1	3–1	1–2	2–2	2–2	–	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–0	1–1	4–0
Phoenix	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	3–1	1–1	2–2	1–3	1–1	3–1	1–3	3–1	0–2	2–0	1–3	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	2–0	–	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–1	1–3	1–1
Portland	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–2	2–0	4–0	3–1	2–0	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–0	0–2	1–3	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–3	–	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–0	1–3	1–1
Sacramento	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	4–0	1–1	4–0	2–2	2–0	3–1	2–2	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	3–1	–	1–3	3–1	1–1	3–1	2–0
San Antonio	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	3–1	2–0	3–1	3–1	2–0	3–1	4–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	–	3–1	2–0	4–0	1–1
Seattle	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–2	3–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–2	3–1	2–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–1	0–4	1–3	1–3	–	2–0	2–2	1–1
Toronto	3–1	2–1	2–2	1–3	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–2	0–2	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–4	2–2	1–1	0–4	0–4	1–3	2–2	0–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	–	0–2	3–1
Utah	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	4–0	0–2	2–2	3–1	1–1	3–1	1–3	3–1	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	0–4	2–2	2–0	–	1–1
Washington	2–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–2	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–2	0–2	1–3	1–2	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	—

Playoffs

2003 playoff game log
First round: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 19 Milwaukee W 109–96 Kenyon Martin (21) Kenyon Martin (15) Jason Kidd (14) Continental Airlines Arena 16,102 1–0 2 April 22 Milwaukee L 85–88 Kenyon Martin (22) Kenyon Martin (12) Jason Kidd (8) Continental Airlines Arena 17,633 1–1 3 April 24 @ Milwaukee W 103–101 Jason Kidd (26) Collins, Martin (8) Jason Kidd (7) Bradley Center 17,539 2–1 4 April 26 @ Milwaukee L 114–119 (OT) Kenyon Martin (30) Jason Collins (8) Jason Kidd (10) Bradley Center 18,391 2–2 5 April 29 Milwaukee W 89–82 Jason Kidd (19) Richard Jefferson (16) Kidd, Martin (5) Continental Airlines Arena 16,601 3–2 6 May 1 @ Milwaukee W 113–101 Kenyon Martin (29) Jason Kidd (11) Jason Kidd (11) Bradley Center 18,717 4–2
Conference Semi-finals: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 5 Boston W 97–93 Kenyon Martin (21) Jefferson, Williams (9) Jason Kidd (9) Continental Airlines Arena 17,343 1–0 2 May 7 Boston W 104–95 Richard Jefferson (25) Jason Kidd (11) Jason Kidd (8) Continental Airlines Arena 19,934 2–0 3 May 9 @ Boston W 94–76 Kenyon Martin (25) Jason Kidd (9) Jason Kidd (11) FleetCenter 18,624 3–0 4 May 12 @ Boston W 110–101 (2OT) Jason Kidd (29) Kidd, Martin (10) Jason Kidd (8) FleetCenter 18,624 4–0
Conference finals: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 18 @ Detroit W 76–74 Kenyon Martin (16) Jason Collins (10) Jason Kidd (7) The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076 1–0 2 May 20 @ Detroit W 88–86 Kenyon Martin (25) Jason Collins (14) Jason Kidd (5) The Palace of Auburn Hills 22,076 2–0 3 May 22 Detroit W 97–85 Jason Kidd (34) Jason Kidd (12) Jason Kidd (6) Continental Airlines Arena 19,923 3–0 4 May 24 Detroit W 102–82 Jason Kidd (26) Jason Kidd (12) Jason Kidd (7) Continental Airlines Arena 19,923 4–0
NBA Finals: 2–4 (home: 1–2; road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 June 4 @ San Antonio L 89–101 Kenyon Martin (21) Kenyon Martin (12) Jason Kidd (10) SBC Center 18,797 0–1 2 June 6 @ San Antonio W 87–85 Jason Kidd (30) Jason Kidd (7) Kenyon Martin (4) SBC Center 18,797 1–1 3 June 8 San Antonio L 79–84 Kenyon Martin (23) Kenyon Martin (11) Jason Kidd (11) Continental Airlines Arena 19,280 1–2 4 June 11 San Antonio W 77–76 Kenyon Martin (20) Kenyon Martin (13) Jason Kidd (9) Continental Airlines Arena 19,280 2–2 5 June 13 San Antonio L 83–93 Jason Kidd (29) Kenyon Martin (9) Jason Kidd (7) Continental Airlines Arena 19,280 2–3 6 June 15 @ San Antonio L 77–88 Jason Kidd (21) Kenyon Martin (10) Jason Kidd (7) SBC Center 18,797 2–4
2003 schedule

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season

New Jersey Nets statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Jason Kidd	80	80	37.4	.414	.341	.841	6.3	8.9	2.2	0.3	18.7
Kenyon Martin	77	77	34.1	.470	.209	.653	8.3	2.4	1.3	0.9	16.7
Richard Jefferson	80	80	36.0	.501	.250	.743	6.4	2.5	1.0	0.6	15.5
Kerry Kittles	65	57	30.0	.467	.356	.785	3.9	2.6	1.6	0.5	13.0
Lucious Harris	77	25	25.6	.413	.346	.804	3.0	2.0	0.7	0.1	10.3
Rodney Rogers	68	0	19.2	.402	.333	.756	3.9	1.6	0.7	0.5	7.0
Aaron Williams	81	0	19.7	.453	.000	.785	4.1	1.1	0.3	0.7	6.2
Dikembe Mutombo	24	16	21.4	.374		.727	6.4	0.8	0.2	1.5	5.8
Jason Collins	81	66	23.5	.414	.000	.763	4.5	1.1	0.6	0.5	5.7
Anthony Johnson	66	2	12.8	.446	.371	.689	1.2	1.3	0.6	0.1	4.1
Brian Scalabrine	59	7	12.3	.402	.359	.833	2.4	0.8	0.3	0.3	3.1
Tamar Slay	36	0	7.6	.379	.280	.700	0.9	0.4	0.4	0.1	2.6
Brandon Armstrong	17	0	4.1	.333	.167	.833	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	1.4
Chris Childs	12	0	8.8	.300	.167	.667	0.4	1.3	0.7	0.1	1.3
Donny Marshall	3	0	2.0	.000	.000		1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Playoffs

New Jersey Nets statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Jason Kidd	20	20	42.6	.402	.327	.825	7.7	8.2	1.8	0.2	20.1
Kenyon Martin	20	20	38.9	.453	.091	.693	9.4	2.9	1.5	1.6	18.9
Richard Jefferson	20	20	35.6	.476	.000	.718	6.4	2.4	0.8	0.2	14.1
Kerry Kittles	20	20	30.7	.395	.413	.762	3.5	2.0	1.5	0.3	10.8
Lucious Harris	20	0	21.8	.391	.333	.783	2.6	1.6	0.5	0.0	7.8
Rodney Rogers	20	0	17.5	.372	.405	.711	2.8	1.4	0.3	0.2	6.7
Aaron Williams	19	0	17.9	.472		.742	4.6	0.9	0.3	0.9	6.5
Jason Collins	20	20	26.5	.363	.000	.836	6.3	0.9	0.7	0.6	5.9
Anthony Johnson	17	0	7.2	.548	.500	.833	0.7	1.1	0.1	0.0	2.5
Dikembe Mutombo	10	0	11.5	.467		1.000	2.7	0.6	0.3	0.9	1.8
Brian Scalabrine	7	0	2.9	.500	.000		0.6	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6
Tamar Slay	6	0	1.8	.250	1.000		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5

Player Statistics Citation:^[14]

Awards and records

• Jason Kidd, All-NBA Second Team
• Jason Kidd, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
• Jason Kidd, NBA All-Star

Transactions

Overview

Players Added Via draft Tamar Slay Via trade Dikembe Mutombo Via free agency Chris Childs Anthony Johnson Rodney Rogers

Players Lost Via trade Todd MacCulloch Keith Van Horn Via free agency

Trades

August 6, 2002

To Philadelphia 76ers Todd MacCulloch Keith Van Horn

To New Jersey Nets Dikembe Mutombo

Free agents

Additions
Player	Date signed	Former team
Chris Childs	August 1	Toronto Raptors
Rodney Rogers	August 14	Boston Celtics
Anthony Johnson	October 25	New Jersey Nets
Donny Marshall	March 11	New Jersey Nets

Subtractions
Player	Date signed	New Team
Donny Marshall	October 28	New Jersey Nets
Chris Childs	March 7	none (retired)

Player Transactions Citation:^[31]