Kidd grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds and scored five of his 27 points in the final 68 seconds as the New Jersey Nets held on for a 91-89 victory over the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kidd has run the offense to near-perfection this season but found himself working inside due to the absence of Martin, who served a one-game suspension for Saturday's flagrant foul on Utah's Karl Malone.
He also made 11-of-21 shots as Van Horn -- the team's leading scorer -- shot just 5-of-16 en route to 10 points.
 Jason Kidd took it hard to the hoop, and to the Cavs, on Wednesday night. David Liam Lyle NBAE/Getty Images |
Kidd dominated early and came up huge in the final minutes as the Nets notched their eighth road win, matching last season's total.
"I think anytime you win on the road it's huge in this league," he said. "We started this road trip out on the right foot."
New Jersey controlled the first half and led by as many as 25 points early in the third quarter but were outplayed thoroughly over the final 19 minutes.
The Nets had an 84-73 lead with 4:40 remaining before the Cavs scored nine of the next 11 points and closed within a basket on a layup by Chris Mihm with 1:25 to play. But Kidd nailed a 3-pointer to make it 89-84 with 68 seconds left.
"I had a good look and my teammates believe in me," he said. "I like to have the ball. I would like to have it in my hands and if we're going to win, hopefully I'll make the shot."
Cleveland responded with a 3-pointer by Wesley Person but missed four shots on its next possession, including a wide-open 3-pointer by Jumaine Jones with four seconds to go.
Kidd made two free throws at the other end as New Jersey avoided its first three-game slide of the season.
Rookie Richard Jefferson made his first career start in place of Martin and collected 16 points and nine rebounds. Lucious Harris scored 11 points off the bench and Todd MacCulloch had 11 and seven rebounds.
Mihm had 19 points and nine rebounds and Andre Miller added 14 points and 13 assists for Cleveland, which has lost three straight to New Jersey for the first time since the 1991-92 season.
Jones finished with nine points, 11 rebounds and a career-high six blocks for the Cavaliers, who shot just 37 percent (36-of-96) but committed only 10 turnovers and held a 54-49 rebounding edge.
Cleveland opened the game with a 13-4 run, but the Nets closed the first quarter on a 28-6 surge. Kidd scored 15 points during the burst, which gave New Jersey a 31-19 lead heading into the second period.
"The lead was too much to overcome," Cleveland coach John Lucas said. "That run killed us, but that's what bad teams do."
The Nets had a 35-24 lead two minutes into the second before reeling off 12 straight points and went into halftime with a 55-35 cushion.
"We had it going in the first half, no doubt about it, on both ends of the court," Scott said. "In the second half, I think we got a little soft as far as just going after them the rest of the game."
New Jersey had its largest lead, 64-39, on a free throw by Jefferson with 9:10 left in the third.
But Cleveland scored 22 of the quarter's final 30 points, led by Person, who scored nine of his 16 points during the spurt.
Person's 3-pointer with 28 seconds left cut the deficit to eight before Kidd nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Nets a 72-61 advantage heading into the final period.