After sleepwalking through the last part of the regular season and the first game of their playoff series against Indiana, the Nets might have forgotten the way they played during their 14-game winning streak. Tuesday's 90-75 win over Indiana evened their series at one game each, but, more importantly, it showed the Nets still can play dominating basketball. With tenacious defense and an improved shooting performance from Vince Carter, New Jersey didn't let Indiana hang around. Jermaine O'Neal found himself in foul trouble for the second straight game, but this time the Nets took advantage.
Nets fans probably breathed a sigh of relief last night. After watching the Nets play in game one, they had to wonder whether the team that dominated March would return. The officiating probably helped the Nets; the referees called 46 personal fouls. Gothamist was most pleased with Carter, who scored 33 points on 12 of 20 shooting, a far cry from his 12 of 33 on Sunday. Gothamist did say after that game if he didn't bounce back Tuesday, it would be time to worry. It's not. The two teams play Thursday at Indiana.
