EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Considering what the San Antonio Spurs got from their bench Wednesday night, there was little doubt that Malik Rose and Co. would come to play Friday night in the always crucial Game 5.
Rose was 0-for-9 and didn't play in the second half of Game 4.
Manu Ginobili was 3-for-10 from the field.
Steve Kerr had played just two minutes in the series altogether.
This time around, they were brilliant, combining for 35 points and making 13-of-20 shots to lead the Spurs to a 93-83 win over the New Jersey Nets to take a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals.
Rose, invariably the Spurs' lightning rod for success, was 6-of-9 from the field with 14 points and three rebounds, Ginobili had two big steals, 12 points and three rebounds, and Kerr had six points and a steal in the final nine minutes of the game.
"After Game 4, I was just really frustrated, angry with myself," Rose said. "I felt like I let my team down. I felt like if they got half of a performance out of me in Game 4 I think we would have won the game. I was just looking forward to Friday night. I didn't know how many shots I was going to make, I was just going to take them all confidently and play aggressively."
The result was just what the Spurs needed. But that's generally the circuitous route Rose takes to helping this team. He isn't consistent; just aggressive and a factor -- equal parts good and bad.
Ginobili has been a factor in every game, with 10 steals in the past three, although his shooting has been erratic.
Kerr, who brilliantly took over Game 6 to close out Dallas in the Western Conference finals, was a surprise again. His brief cameo appearances aside, there was no expectation of him seeing significant time at all. But with Tony Parker and Stephen Jackson struggling and Speedy Claxton getting into foul trouble, coach Gregg Popovich had little choice in the matter.
"Steve was fantastic," Popovich said. "We got into a little bit of foul trouble there and we put Steve in a couple of situations where they have to make a couple of decisions double-teaming wise. He's the consummate pro."
Kerr scored five quick points and had a steal to instigate a 9-2 run that put the game away for the Spurs. What it comes down to is he's a guy who won three titles with the Chicago Bulls, one with the Spurs in 1999 and is the NBA's all-time leader in 3-point percentage. It doesn't matter that he's small and slow.
He understands.
"I prepare myself every game the same way," Kerr said. "I have the experience of playing for 15 years to not get too nervous. I've done this a lot. Just shoot if you're open and if you miss, you miss. But you just let it fly."
And as a result, the Spurs are on the verge of flying away from the Nets.
Where will Kidd play?
It occurred to some that should Jason Kidd opt to leave the Nets as a free agent, this was his last game in Continental Airlines Arena.
With 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, he put up great numbers, although he had only three points in the fourth quarter and none in the second quarter as the Spurs zone defense continuously clamped down on him in the clutch.
"Well, I gave it everything I had," Kidd said. "I tried to compete at the highest level and I'll sleep good tonight because I left everything out there. Unfortunately, we were on the short end of the stick.
"If that happens to be the case, I had a pretty good game if that is the case, so we'll see."
Taking it slow
In a rather unusual twist of decision-making for most NBA teams, Popovich elected to not have his team go through a game-day shootaround. Virtually every NBA teams does it all season, unless it's on the second day of back-to-backs, when they occasionally bring teams in an hour earlier before the game for a walk-through.
Under these circumstances, however, it made sense considering Popovich isn't changing anything in particular that he didn't do in practice Thursday and they're beginning their fifth game in a row against the Nets.
"We have done it from time to time, just not shoot around on some game days," Popovich said. "I think we all probably shoot around too much, like we are creatures of habit. I've always thought they were kind of overrated, so today I thought that we needed a little bit of time just to get away from it. Nothing more than that."
He also didn't want his team thinking too much about their horrendous 28.9 percent shooting in Game 4, the worst in 48 years.
"I didn't want them to think we were going to go into the gym and do a myriad of shooting drills and that's going to fix anything. I don't think that had much to do with it. I think it's better just to let it go, clear you (head) a little bit and come and play."
Shots from the perimeter
- Yugoslavian teenager Darko Milicic, the 7-footer who Pistons president Joe Dumars confirmed they will take with the second pick of the draft in two weeks, was at Friday's game. Rick Carlisle, fired as coach of the Pistons two weeks ago, also was in attendance, but as a television analyst.
- Since the 2-3-2 format came into play, six teams have headed home with a 3-2 lead and all six times they have closed out the series in Game 6.
- With two blocks, David Robinson has 310 all-time in the postseason, moving him past Robert Parish into third place behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (476) and Hakeem Olajuwon (472).
- In the 22 previous series in the Finals that have been tied at 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has won 16 titles.
- This is the third time a Finals game has been played on Friday the 13th.
