2002–03 New Jersey Nets season

2002–03 New Jersey Nets season
Atlantic Division Champions Eastern Conference 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 (eliminated 2-4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	YES Network, WLNY
Radio	WFAN

The 2002–03 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 36th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They came into the season hoping to improve upon their 52-30 record from the previous season, but they did not, ending the year with a 49-33 record. 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.

Offseason

On August 1, the Nets signed Chris Childs as a free agent. Five days later, the organization traded Todd MacCulloch and F 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

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

Standings

Atlantic Division	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
Washington Wizards	37	45	.451	12	23–18	14–27	11–13
New York Knicks	37	45	.451	12	24–17	13–28	9–15
Miami Heat	25	57	.305	24	16–25	9–32	5–19

Roster

New Jersey Nets roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From G 1 Armstrong, Brandon 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Pepperdine C 35 Collins, Jason 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Stanford G 12 Harris, Lucious 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Long Beach State F 24 Jefferson, Richard 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Arizona G 2 Johnson, Anthony 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) College of Charleston G 5 Kidd, Jason 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 204 lb (93 kg) California G 30 Kittles, Kerry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 179 lb (81 kg) Villanova F 13 Marshall, Donny 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Connecticut F 6 Martin, Kenyon 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 234 lb (106 kg) Cincinnati C 55 Mutombo, Dikembe 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Georgetown F 54 Rogers, Rodney 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Wake Forest F 21 Scalabrine, Brian 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 241 lb (109 kg) Southern California G 8 Slay, Tamar 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Marshall C 34 Williams, Aaron 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Xavier	Head coach Byron Scott (Arizona State) Assistant coach(es) Lawrence Frank (Indiana) Eddie Jordan (Rutgers) Mike O'Koren (North Carolina) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Note

Bold = All-Star selection

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Jason Collins	Dikembe Mutombo
PF	Kenyon Martin	Aaron Williams	Brian Scalabrine
SF	Richard Jefferson	Rodney Rogers		Donny Marshall
SG	Kerry Kittles	Lucious Harris	Tamar Slay
PG	Jason Kidd	Anthony Johnson		Brandon Armstrong

Transactions

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)

Playoffs

East First Round

(2) New Jersey Nets vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks Last Playoff Meeting: 1986 Eastern Conference First Round (Milwaukee won 3-0)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (MIL-NJN)	Venue	TV Time	Recap
1	April 19	Milwaukee	96	New Jersey	109	0–1	Continental Airlines Arena, New Jersey	ESPN 12:30et	Recap
2	April 22	Milwaukee	88	New Jersey	85	1–1	Continental Airlines Arena, New Jersey	TNT 7:00et	Recap
3	April 24	New Jersey	103	Milwaukee	101	1–2	Bradley Center, Milwaukee	TNT 8:30et/7:30ct	Recap
4*	April 26	New Jersey	114	Milwaukee	119	2–2	Bradley Center, Milwaukee	TNT 5:00et/4:00ct	Recap
5	April 29	Milwaukee	82	New Jersey	89	2–3	Continental Airlines Arena, New Jersey	TNT 7:00et	Recap
6	May 1	New Jersey	113	Milwaukee	101	2–4	Bradley Center, Milwaukee	TNT 6:00et/5:00ct	Recap
New Jersey wins series 4–2

*Required overtime.

East Conference Semifinals

(2) New Jersey Nets vs. (6) Boston Celtics Last Playoff Meeting: 2002 Eastern Conference Finals (New Jersey won 4-2)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (BOS-NJN)	Venue	TV Time	Recap
1	May 5	Boston	93	New Jersey	97	0–1	Continental Airlines Arena, New Jersey	TNT 7:00et	Recap
2	May 7	Boston	95	New Jersey	104	0–2	Continental Airlines Arena, New Jersey	TNT 7:00et	Recap
3	May 9	New Jersey	94	Boston	76	0–3	FleetCenter, Boston	TNT 8:00et	Recap
4**	May 12	New Jersey	110	Boston	101	0–4	FleetCenter, Boston	TNT 8:00et	Recap
New Jersey wins series 4–0

East Conference Finals

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (2) New Jersey Nets Last Playoff Meeting: 1985 Eastern Conference First Round (Detroit won 3-0)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (NJN-DET)	Venue	TV Time	Recap
1	May 18	New Jersey	76	Detroit	74	1-0	The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills	ABC 1:00et	Recap
2	May 20	New Jersey	88	Detroit	86	2-0	The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills	ESPN 8:00et	Recap
3	May 22	Detroit	85	New Jersey	97	3-0	Continental Airlines Arena, New Jersey	ABC 8:00et	Recap
4	May 24	Detroit	82	New Jersey	102	4-0	Continental Airlines Arena, New Jersey	ESPN 8:00et	Recap
New Jersey wins Eastern Conference Championship series 4–0

NBA Finals

(W1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (E2) New Jersey Nets Last Playoff Meeting: 1976 ABA Semifinals (Nets won 4-3; they were based in Uniondale, New York)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (NJN-SAS)	Venue	TV Time	Recap
1	June 4	New Jersey	89	San Antonio	101	0–1	SBC Center, San Antonio, Texas	ABC 8:00et/7:00ct	Recap
2	June 6	New Jersey	87	San Antonio	85	1–1	SBC Center, San Antonio, Texas	ABC 8:00et/7:00ct	Recap
3	June 8	San Antonio	84	New Jersey	79	1–2	Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey	ABC 8:00et/7:00ct	Recap
4	June 11	San Antonio	76	New Jersey	77	2–2	Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey	ABC 8:00et/7:00ct	Recap
5	June 13	San Antonio	93	New Jersey	83	2–3	Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey	ABC 8:00et/7:00ct	Recap
6	June 15	New Jersey	77	San Antonio	88	2–4	SBC Center, San Antonio, Texas	ABC 8:00et/7:00ct	Recap
San Antonio wins NBA Championship series 4–2

Awards and records

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

References

• New Jersey Nets on Database Basketball
• New Jersey Nets on Basketball Reference