 The Nets' Kenyon Martin slams home two against the Knicks. Noren Trotman NBAE/Getty Images 56k | 300k |
The Nets dominated the first half en route to a 59-36 lead, but the Knicks 35 points in the third quarter to close within 73-71 with 59 seconds left.
Kittles responded with a 3-pointer and follow shot off a miss by Lucious Harris 24 seconds later. He picked off a bad pass from Allan Houston and made a layup with seven seconds left to single-handedly end the quarter on a 7-0 run.
"It all started on the defensive end," Kittles said. "When I made the three it was because Jason (Kidd) was pushing the ball and found me. On the layup, I was just following Lucious' shot. This is the best game I've ever had in New Jersey."
New Jersey held the Knicks to 12 points in the fourth quarter and secured its first five-game winning streak since April 4-12, 1998. The Nets improved to 7-1, including 5-0 at Continental Airlines Arena, which had a season-high 15,638 on hand.
"It was a playoff atmosphere-type game and our guys came out on fire," New Jersey coach Byron Scott said. "We did a heck of a job on both ends of the court. Obviously this was a good win for us."
New Jersey has won three straight meetings with New York but just five of the last 16.
"We went out and played hard for 48 minutes," Martin said. "We are a better ballclub. They thought we were a fluke at 6-1. We are 7-1 now."
Kidd collected 12 points, 15 assists and six rebounds and Todd MacCulloch had 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting for New Jersey, which had all five starters in double figures.
Latrell Sprewell led the Knicks with 25 points but was held scoreless in the final period. Clarence Weatherspoon scored 13 points and Houston managed just 11.
The Nets shot 58 percent (14-of-24) in the first quarter, making 10 consecutive shots during one stretch to take a 30-19 lead. MacCulloch scored nine points during the quarter and Martin added eight.
New Jersey blew it open with a 17-4 run midway through the second, building a 55-32 cushion. Kidd collected 12 assists in the first 24 minutes, besting the Knicks' team total of seven.
"You saw the same old Jason," Knicks point guard Mark Jackson said. "He's a great player and makes everyone around him better. He is a true point guard."
Weatherspoon scored the first four points of the second half to spark a 6-0 run. The Knicks outscored New Jersey, 35-13, in the first 11 minutes of the quarter and Weatherspoon brought them within a basket before Kittles dominated the final minute.
"If we had played that way for 48 minutes, we probably could have walked out of here with the win," Sprewell said. "You can't do it for 12 minutes. I'm disappointed in the fact that we played the first half the way we did. That's where the game was lost, not in the last minute of the third."
"In the third quarter we got staggered, knocked down a little bit," Scott said. "But we got right back up off the canvas and continued to play basketball. That's a sign of a pretty good team and we are getting better."
Rookie Jarron Collins opened the fourth with a hook shot and the Nets led by double digits thereafter. New Jersey closed the game on a 20-4 run and had its largest lead when time expired.
The Nets shot 53 percent (42-of-80) and held a 40-30 rebounding edge. They also outscored New York, 46-22, in the paint.
The Knicks, who allowed 100 points just nine times last season, have permitted opponents to reach the century mark three times already this year and are 0-5 on the road.
"We have no idea what it takes for our team to win," New York coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "There are a bunch of hard decisions coming for our team. We just can't stand by and play bad defense. To get good defense, you have to care about it. We can and will defend."