Cavs Hold Off, Finish Off Nets

The Nets season ended with a flurry of Cleveland threes in the fourth quarter Friday night at the Meadowlands. The Nets came back from 22 down to close within one point, but could never get over the hump and a 19-4 Cavs run down the stretch sent them to the Eastern Conference Finals and the Nets into an offseason full of questions. Cleveland finished the first quarter on a 23-4 run to lead by 17 and then built the lead to 22 before the Nets closed it to 15 at the half. Jason Kidd then led a 22-8 third quarter, scoring 12 of his 19 points in the period. The Nets had several chances to tie or take the lead, but couldn't get the big basket, and consecutive threes from Daniel Gibson and Donyell Marshall with about eight minutes to go in the game gave the Cavs seperation that the Nets could never recover from. Kidd added 12 boards and eight assists and Richard Jefferson finished with 16 points and eight boards, but Vince Carter shot just 4-for-11 for 11 points and had more turnovers (five) than assists (four). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Kidd is only the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double for the entire postseason. Only Oscar Robertson had done it in the past, and that was only one round.

• Boxscore - NBA.com
• Cavaliers Eliminate Nets With Game 6 Win - Brian Mahoney - AP
• Game Highlights (Video) - NBA.com
• Nets-Cavs Series Blog - John Schuhmann - NBA.com
• Lawrence Frank Press Conference (Video) - NBA.com
• Jason Kidd Press Conference (Video) - NBA.com
• Vince Carter Press Conference (Video) - NBA.com
• Mike Brown Press Conference (Video) - NBA.com
• James and Marshall Press Conference (Video) - NBA.com
• BlackBerry Assist of the Night: Jason Kidd (Video) - NBA.com
• Over and Out - Dave D'Alessandro - Star-Ledger
• Captain's heroics fail without support - David Waldstein - Star-Ledger
• Nets-Cavs Game 6 recap - David Waldstein - Star-Ledger
• Tired Nets run out of gas - Al Iannazzone - YES Network
• Net this time - Fred Kerber - New York Post
• Donyell, Cavaliers Celebrate - Marc Berman - New York Post
• Nets' season gets deep-sixed - Julian Garcia - New York Daily News
• Kidd unable to keep Nets afloat - Al Iannazzone - The Record
• Net result: New Jersey goes home - Larry Fleisher - SNY
• Cavs avoid choke job, but can't avoid Detroit - Mike Freeman - CBS Sportsline
• Knock LeBron, but he's carrying the Cavs - Mike Kahn - FOX Sports
• Two quarters enough - Brian Windhorst - Akron Beacon-Journal
• LeBron gets vital help from bench - Terry Pluto - Akron Beacon-Journal
• Veterans Marshall, Jones turn heroic - Brian Windhorst - Akron Beacon-Journal
• Fans alter plans to cheer at Q - George M. Thomas - Akron Beacon-Journal
• Game 6 Snapshot - Brian Windhorst - Akron Beacon-Journal
• Cutting down Nets - Branson Wright - Cleveland Plain-Dealer
• Everything LeBron is every thing to Cavaliers - Bill Livingston - Cleveland Plain-Dealer
• LeBron's girlfriend OK - Branson Wright - Cleveland.com
• Cavaliers' subs prove to be game's heroes - Mary Schmitt Boyer - Cleveland Plain-Dealer
• Nets' rally impressive, but falls short - Mary Schmitt Boyer - Cleveland Plain-Dealer
• Plenty of shirts available in Jersey - Mary Schmitt Boyer - Cleveland Plain-Dealer
• Bring on the Pistons - Bob Finnan - Willoughby News Herald
• LeBron: Urgency needed - Bob Finnan - Willoughby News Herald
• Five Star: Vince Carter (Video) - NBA.com
• Stat Sheet Stuffer - NBA.com
• Photo Gallery: New Jersey Nets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers - Bill Kostroun - AP
• What a feeling … finally - Rick Noland - Sandusky Chronicle Telegram
• Cavs finish off Nets - James Walker - Columbus Dispatch
• Cavs take out Nets, reach conference final - Mike Popovich - Canton Repository
• Death Of A Salesman - Joe - Joe Netsfan