reflections
January 8th, 2007 Moore plays Nets’ big shot, wows crowd

In the jaunty optimism of the visiting locker room Friday night at Miami, there was a lone figure with his head down in his locker stall. The Nets had won, but Mikki Moore was not pleased.

He’s a starter these days, but as that game broke in the third period, he was like a traffic cop with his hands tied behind his back — the world moving past him at its own pace, with its own design, as though he were a spectator listening to interesting stories told by other people. 

He was pulled five minutes into that quarter for Boki Nachbar, and the Nets kept going. And as the lead increased, Moore’s confidence sank. “He was very disappointed in his performance,” coach Lawrence Frank recalled. “And when a guy is committed to the team, he wants to make amends.”

So here’s how a journeyman atones for a one-point, three-re bound dud: He attacks the game with his old vigor, throws up nine shots from inside and out, hits all nine, abuses Mark Blount for five offensive boards, makes two steals, helps hold Kevin Garnett to five measly field goals, acknowledges the crowd when it chants his name and helps carry the Nets back into first place in the Atlantic with a routine 100-92 triumph over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Continental Airlines Arena.

Yes, Mikki Moore.

“I’ll tell you what,” said Richard Jefferson, reduced to second-star status after playing 43 brilliant minutes, “Since I’ve been here, we’ve had a lot of success, and I can only remember three or four times when the crowd was chanting somebody’s name. That’s huge. Even the way things have gone this season, it shows the impact Mikki’s having on this team.”

He finished with a career-high 20 points and eight rebounds in 39 sterling minutes — a career night by any measure — and suddenly the Nets, while not having any unrealistic expectations, feel a lot bet ter about their starting lineup.

But Moore’s contribution wasn’t the only reason. Jefferson, despite the chronic pain in his right ankle, showed his old bounce and put up his old numbers (23 points, six rebounds, five assists), and together they showed that the Nets can control a game from start to finish and not always have to rely on the Jason Kidd/Vince Carter tandem to carry them every night.

Even the bench had its standouts — there were seven assists for Marcus Williams, nine quick points in the second quarter for Eddie House (chaining Carter to the bench for the last 10:36 of the first half) and a game-busting 3 for Boki Nachbar.

But only one guy heard his name chanted. And only one guy received an ovation in the postgame locker room from his teammates.

http://www.nj.com/nets/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1167544352308920.xml&coll=1

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