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<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Consecutive playoff encounters don't make them a rival.
Consecutive playoff defeats don't make them a nemesis, either.
But if the Nets were to lose to Miami again tonight for the second time in seven days, it will very likely give them an inferiority complex.
Which is one reason why they're trying to treat it like any other game -- even if it is against the defending NBA champions.
"It seems like we're always playing them. (But) it's just basketball," Vince Carter said yesterday. "They're the next team on the schedule. That's the way it is. We can play with them -- we know that. Just getting wins is the key right now. It's all about executing in the end, giving ourselves a chance to win."
The Nets had a very good chance just last Friday, when they were one point down with only 2:29 to play. But Dwyane Wade and James Posey made two game-breaking plays, and in the end, the Nets couldn't overcome 39 percent shooting and 17 turnovers.
Given the way Miami has handled them since last season's playoffs, what makes the Nets think that the next meeting will be different?
Carter remembers from his Toronto days that some opponents can often be beaten even before tip-off, with mismatches and coaching superiority becoming psychological advantages over the course of a regular-season series.
"At the time, it was the Knicks," he said of one particular Toronto nemesis. "It's unfortunate, but you just play through it. As a team, we know we're capable. But it's just getting it done consistently. We beat Miami during the regular season last year (three out of four), then didn't beat them in the playoffs. You can't make it a mental thing. Yeah, we know we can lose, but we have to continue to do what we do and that's given us success. Hopefully it's good enough."
It wouldn't hurt to come out hungrier than they were in Miami, either. They had a chance to bury the Heat during a nine-minute stretch of the second quarter, when Wade was seated with three fouls, but the Nets let Pat Riley's team off the hook -- mostly because Shaquille O'Neal and Antoine Walker were pummeling them in the post. </div>
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Consecutive playoff defeats don't make them a nemesis, either.
But if the Nets were to lose to Miami again tonight for the second time in seven days, it will very likely give them an inferiority complex.
Which is one reason why they're trying to treat it like any other game -- even if it is against the defending NBA champions.
"It seems like we're always playing them. (But) it's just basketball," Vince Carter said yesterday. "They're the next team on the schedule. That's the way it is. We can play with them -- we know that. Just getting wins is the key right now. It's all about executing in the end, giving ourselves a chance to win."
The Nets had a very good chance just last Friday, when they were one point down with only 2:29 to play. But Dwyane Wade and James Posey made two game-breaking plays, and in the end, the Nets couldn't overcome 39 percent shooting and 17 turnovers.
Given the way Miami has handled them since last season's playoffs, what makes the Nets think that the next meeting will be different?
Carter remembers from his Toronto days that some opponents can often be beaten even before tip-off, with mismatches and coaching superiority becoming psychological advantages over the course of a regular-season series.
"At the time, it was the Knicks," he said of one particular Toronto nemesis. "It's unfortunate, but you just play through it. As a team, we know we're capable. But it's just getting it done consistently. We beat Miami during the regular season last year (three out of four), then didn't beat them in the playoffs. You can't make it a mental thing. Yeah, we know we can lose, but we have to continue to do what we do and that's given us success. Hopefully it's good enough."
It wouldn't hurt to come out hungrier than they were in Miami, either. They had a chance to bury the Heat during a nine-minute stretch of the second quarter, when Wade was seated with three fouls, but the Nets let Pat Riley's team off the hook -- mostly because Shaquille O'Neal and Antoine Walker were pummeling them in the post. </div>
Source
