New Jersey Nets Team Report - January 18

(Basketball News) - The New Jersey Nets were defeated by the Indiana Pacers, 90-84, on Saturday in a battle of Eastern Conference powers at the Meadowlands.

Jason Kidd finished with 21 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds for the Nets, who have dropped two in a row and three of four.

The Nets took a 74-63 lead into the fourth quarter, but unraveled in the final 12 minutes.

Indiana opened the frame with an 18-4 run to go up by three. With the shot clock winding down, Jermaine O’Neal hit his first three-pointer of the season to pull the Pacers to within 76-73 with 9:18 left to play.

Jamaal Tinsley’s three-pointer with 6:00 remaining gave Indiana a 79-78 advantage — the Pacers’ first lead since it was 2-0 in the early going. A pair of free throws by Artest capped the run and gave Indiana an 81-78 lead with 4:04 to play.

A pair of free throws by Tinsley put Indiana up by four with 20 seconds left, but a dunk by Kenyon Martin brought the Nets to within 86-84 with 19.3 seconds remaining.

After Reggie Miller hit a pair of free throws with 19.3 seconds to play, Kerry Kittles missed a jumper at the other end and Miller was sent to the line again. Miller drained two more from the charity stripe with 10 seconds remaining to seal the victory for Indiana, which outscored New Jersey by a 27-10 margin in the fourth.

The Nets went just 5-of-23 from the field, including 0-for-4 from three-point range, and turned the ball over six times in the final stanza. New Jersey committed 13 of its 18 turnovers in the second half.

"It was a tale of two halves," said New Jersey head coach Byron Scott. "We did a good job of running our offense and getting good movement. But in the second half that came to a halt and it showed."

The Nets are off until Tuesday when they visit Antoine Walker and the Dallas Mavericks.