Carter, now 29 and in his prime, no longer has the ability to be selected for the All-NBA team, which undoubtedly disappoints Kidd, especially considering how much he looked forward to Carter joining the team, and the reality has inevitably let him down.
Besides his ability, Carter’s courage and confidence are far from what they used to be.
Back when he played for the Toronto Raptors, Carter was a notorious ironman, with several occasions of 20 misses in a single game, but now, he dares not to take extra shots. Carter no longer possesses one of the most important indicators of a superstar—the ability to handle shooting rights.
After the timeout, both teams made substitutions.
The Bobcats sent out Felton, Zhang Yang, Matt Carroll, Gerald Wallace, and Brezec.
The Nets sent out Kidd, Lamond Murray, Richard Jefferson, Scott Padgett, and Nenad Krstic.
The game entered a new phase—a battle of offenses!
With the Nets, Lamond Murray had strong long-distance shooting ability, Scott Padgett had excellent athletic ability and was suitable for fast breaks with Kidd, and Nenad Krstic was strong in positional battle scoring.
The Bobcats played small ball, with sharp counterattacks. The pick-and-roll offense with Felton and Gerald Wallace was also impressive; it was their strongest positional offense method before Okafor’s return. Brezec, seeing the Eastern European Center, became ignited. He had been at a disadvantage in previous encounters with Krstic, but that night he was even more motivated.
The two teams attacked fiercely, with Kidd’s Nets gaining a slight edge, repeatedly reaching climactic moments that narrowed the score.
In terms of fast breaks, there are only players like Nash and James in the league who can compete with Kidd; Brevin Knight would have to step aside.
Kidd admired Zhang Yang’s habit of passing the ball during fast breaks and believed he had the potential to become a master of counterattacks, but the current gap between him and Kidd was still very evident.
However, the threat posed by Zhang Yang’s high post shooting, coupled with the lead the Bobcats had established in the past half quarter, played its part.
Zhang Yang constantly forced the Nets’ defense to step up in positional battles, creating more opportunities for teammates cutting from the wings. An 11-point lead provided sufficient breathing room, and their tenacity always allowed them to widen the gap again after the Nets’ climax periods of weakness!
Kidd led the team in a hard fight to score points.
A single loss leads to a cascade of setbacks, and that’s exactly his situation now.
Yet, if he had to make a decision during a stalemate again, he would still choose to trust Carter.
If they had won during that stalemate period, they would now be in the advantageous position, and with the core players of the Bobcats’ roster at a certain age, there would be no more, stronger contingency plans.
Moreover, he had to trust Carter because smashing the opponent during a stalemate and disrupting their tactical intentions is something a scoring superstar must do.
Even though Carter was no longer the player he used to be, his ability to break through defenses even less than in his second or third years, Kidd still had to maintain his stance. Otherwise, it could easily lead to internal conflicts... This point, Kidd believed, was also taken into consideration by the opponents when they formulated their tactical strategy.
Now, all Kidd could do was grit his teeth and persevere!
The first quarter ended with the Bobcats leading by 8 points, 33 to 25. In the second quarter, they managed 26 to the Nets’ 28, with their lead diminishing to 6 points. In the third quarter, 31 to 28, the Bobcats nearly extended their lead back to double digits... By the first half of the fourth quarter, Kidd led the team in scoring 16 to 12 for the half, 97 to 102, the Nets reduced the deficit to 5 points just before the official timeout!
After the official timeout, both teams brought out their best offensive lineups of the night.
The Bobcats: Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Okafor, Brezec.
The Nets: Kidd, Carter, Richard Jefferson, Clifford Robinson, Krstic.
Despite still holding a 5-point lead, the pressure was immense on the Bobcats’ players.
In terms of role players, the Bobcats were actually a tad better than the Nets... mainly because the Nets were down on their luck and lacked quality role players and veterans willing to join them. But in terms of stars, Carter, Richard Jefferson... primarily Kidd, he was too strong!
The Bobcats started with such a strong advantage and consistently took the initiative, yet they were still chased to a dangerous margin by the team led by Kidd.
Kidd played 39 minutes out of the first 42 minutes of the game, only resting for 3 minutes at the beginning of the third quarter, shooting 5 for 12, including 2 for 6 from three-point land, and 1 for 2 from the free-throw line, tallying 13 points, 12 rebounds, 15 assists, and 2 steals!
Not only did the Bobcats’ players feel Kidd’s dominance.
Though this game wasn’t broadcast nationwide, it was shown in several cities in New Jersey, parts of New York State, and multiple cities in the Carolina region. Even commentators from the Carolina region were exclaiming why Kidd missed the All-Star game—was it because of his involvement in coaching and alienating the coaching community by dismissing Byron Scott?
Yet the pressure did not break the Bobcats’ players; after going on court, they continued to fight tooth and nail with the Nets!
In the following 4 plus minutes, the teams scored 10 points apiece. With 10 minutes and 58 seconds left in the last quarter, the score stood at 112 to 107 in favor of the Bobcats, who doggedly held on to their lead!
The Nets were on the offense again, and Carter stepped up at a crucial moment. He broke through with an isolation play, shaking off Zhang Yang and moving from the left side of the free-throw line to the center, dodging Okafor’s help defense and hitting a mid-range jumper!
to 112, the Nets cut the lead down to 3 points!
Carter signaled his teammates to fall back on defense; if they held their ground on the next defense, his three-pointer could tie the game.