Christmas throwback: Nets pulverized the Celtics in ‘02 East Finals rematch

Led by RJ, J-Kidd, and K-Mart, the Nets gave an explosive holiday threat against the Celtics.

Marin Gabric | Dec 27, 2023

For the second year in a row, the Brooklyn Nets will not be featured in the NBA's Christmas Day slate. Amid this, the entire Nets World still has plenty of reminiscing to enjoy in the team's holiday games from the previous years.

Here is a look back on one of the Nets' most thrilling X-mas victories, which can be traced to 20 years ago.

Nets-Celtics holiday clash in '02

One of the best Christmas Day games in franchise history happened in 2002 when the Nets were still residing in the New Jersey area.

The Nets were pitted against the Boston Celtics for a holiday action on December 25th. This served as a rematch between two teams who met in the 2001-2002 Eastern Conference Finals — a series which the Nets have won in six games.

Both teams played within the jam-packed Continental Airlines Arena (now known as Izod Center), in which 20,049 people attended to see the two East powerhouses collide once again.

Furious Nets manhandled the C's on Christmas

Throughout the entire 48-minute play, the Nets have obliterated the Celtics in a one-sided holiday affair, 117-81. New Jersey ended the first quarter leading by 11 and subsequently left Boston behind by a massive margin afterward.

All five starters of the Nets breached the double-digit mark as Richard Jefferson took the lead with 22 points and eight boards. The duo of Jason Kidd (16 points, 11 assists) and Kenyon Martin (16 points, 13 rebounds) poured double-double performances while Lucious Harris added 17.

Despite Paul Pierce's game-high 27 points, the entire Celtics were clamped to an inefficient night. They concluded the Christmas evening in a horrifying display by shooting 32.4 percent from the field and registering 18 costly turnovers.

Heavily underestimated in their Conference Finals triumph from the previous season, the Nets were determined to pound the Celtics to dust. As such, the victory couldn't be more of a perfect Christmas treat for Nets fans.

"Last year [the Celtics] felt that we weren't the better team when we beat them," Nets coach Byron Scott said. "Obviously, we felt we were. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the best team wins a seven-game series. I think that they're a bunch of guys over there, especially Pierce and [Antoine] Walker, who feel that we weren't really worthy of being in the Finals, that they were the better team"

When Richard Jefferson fought Nets teammate Kenyon Martin

Published Dec 27, 2023

MARIN GABRIC

Marin's love for writing developed in high school but was furthered in college when he took a number of creative writing courses. Doing sports writing felt like an extremely natural continuation, as it furthered his passions in both writing and basketball. Marin loves the feeling of looking at stats after a game and analyzing what each team could've done better or what they excel in compared to the rest of the league. And the ability to do so for his favorite team, the Brooklyn Nets, is quite special in itself.