There was a time, not too long ago, when the Nets would welcome games on the road. They once were 10-4. They once went west for a four-game trip and won three games. And while all that might not have been that long ago, it certainly seems as if it was.
The Nets have dropped their last four games away from home, and they start another four-game Western Conference trip Wednesday in New Orleans, where two of the quickest point guards in the game, the Hornets' Chris Paul and the Nets' Devin Harris, square off for the first time this season. The Nets are heading out after taking a home drubbing, 105-85, by the Celtics, a game in which Harris and Vince Carter were benched for the second half. Maybe getting back in the road isn't such a bad idea.
The Saturday matinee defeat to the Celtics also was the third straight loss overall for the Nets, the third in a brutal five-game streak they had circled a while ago: two games against the Celtics, one each against the Blazers, Hornets and Spurs. So they still have the Hornets and Spurs, both teams well above .600, while the Nets are three games under .500 on the road.
The Hornets swept the two-game series last season after the Nets had won seven of their previous eight meetings. Chris Paul, who won the first game on a jumper with five seconds remaining, averaged 27.0 points for the Hornets in the two games. Vince Carter, who missed the first meeting with an ankle sprain, scored 19 in the second meeting, an 11-point loss.
Paul leads the league in assists and is averaging over 20 points, while Harris has been among the league scoring leaders all season and is averaging 22.3 points.
CELTICS 105, NETS 85: The game was over, basically, in the first quarter. Boston got out to an 18-2 start and then led by 29 at halftime. So Nets coach Lawrence Frank benched Vince Carter and Devin Harris, his two leading scorers and best players, for the entire second half. The Nets never made a game of it as the Celtics yawned their way through the second half.
Brook Lopez, one of two starters who began the third quarter (Bobby Simmons was the other), led the Nets with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Carter and Harris combined for 12 points and 4-of-14 shooting. Ray Allen topped the Celtics with 25 points, 14 in the first quarter.
