Kidd did little scoring but dished out 14 assists and his return sparked a key run in the second quarter as the Nets cruised to a 92-74 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Kidd has been the reason for New Jersey's turnaround this season and it was never more evident than the first half. The Nets were dominant while he was on the court and floundered when he was resting on the bench.
Todd MacCulloch scored all nine of his points in the first four minutes and New Jersey jumped out to a 24-17 lead but fell apart after Kidd took a rest with five minutes left in the first quarter.
 Memphis' Shane Battier takes his coach's order to get a hand in Keith Van Horn's face literally. Noren Trotman NBAE/Getty Images |
A pair of free throws from rookie Shane Battier gave Memphis its final lead, 30-29, 20 seconds into the second quarter, but Kidd returned 62 seconds later.
On the court for less than a minute, he stole the ball on his first defensive sequence and fed Aaron Williams, who was fouled. He sank both free throws to give the Nets the lead for good and spark a 12-0 run.
"When he's in the game, you can just feel he's in the game," Williams said of Kidd. "When he comes in, he just takes over."
Kidd did not attempt a shot during the spurt but dished out three assists and recorded three of his four steals.
"He can do that, that's what he does," Memphis coach Sidney Lowe said. "He comes in the game, he changes the game in his favor. He's that type of player, Jason Kidd is a great, great player."
"When he is on the court, everything just seems to flow," Nets coach Byron Scott said. "It was one of those games where he wasn't looking to score. When he isn't in the game guys aren't comfortable in what we're doing and it shows. It's hard to keep him out."
Williams scored six points during the burst and Kenyon Martin added four, including a pair of free throws that made it 41-30 with 5:36 left.
"We felt we weren't running enough," Kidd said. "Once (the Grizzlies) took the lead, they became passive. So when we got the lead back, we just kept running."
Kidd's presence jump-started New Jersey's fast break and helped Williams turn in his best game of the season.
The Nets had a 30-7 advantage on the fast break and Williams scored a season-high 18 points, with Kidd assisting on five of his seven baskets.
"As soon as we get the rebound, Jason is off to he races," Williams said. "It makes it a lot easier on the rest of us. He throws the ball right where you like it. I think it's just his feel for the game, he knows where every player likes the ball and he's able to get it to them. He made it easy for me to score."
"You have to give credit to the guys who got out and ran, that's what it's all about," Kidd said. "Aaron had great positioning; my job was to get him the ball, and he did the rest."
Williams scored 10 points as New Jersey pulled away in the third quarter and won for the fourth time in five games.
Kittles finished with 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting and Martin scored 15. Keith Van Horn had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets, who outscored the Grizzlies, 52-34, in the paint.
Battier finished with 20 points for Memphis. Stromile Swift added 15 and 10 rebounds but scored only three points after the first quarter.
Rookie Pau Gasol had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks but made just 4-of-17 shots for Memphis, which shot just 28 percent (28-of-100), including 1-of-11 3-pointers.
"We didn't take the best shots," Battier said. "When you play a guy like Jason Kidd, you take a bad shot and he's going to make you pay. He got going by passing on the fast break. It seemed like all five of their guys were greyhounds."