Editor's note: ESPN's Fred Carter points out what went wrong for the New Jersey Nets in their 101-89 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
What happened to the Nets' fastbreak?
It was surprising to watch such a creative, open-court team have trouble converting their fastbreak opportunities. You must give credit to the San Antonio Spurs for not allowing the Nets to attack them as they've attacked every other team in the playoffs.
The Nets seemed tentative after the first quarter and never got the type of opportunities that they're used to. The Spurs did a great job keeping the Nets in a halfcourt offense.
Were the Nets prepared?
After watching them bungle several fastbreak chances, I'm not so sure.
They had since last Thursday night to prepare for the Spurs and still seemed surprised at the long arms that the Spurs had when deflecting Jason Kidd's fastbreak passes. They must be better prepared in Game 2 on Friday night.
How big of an effect did the Spurs' zone defense have on the Nets?
The zone defense wreaked havoc with the Nets' plans. The Nets are not a very good halfcourt team and that flaw was exacerbated by the Spurs' tough zone defense.
The Spurs' coaching staff did a very good job implementing this scheme and the Spurs' players did a great job enforcing it. The zone disrupted the timing and spacing of the Nets, who were limited on offense and were forced to take more jump shots than they would have liked.
Fred Carter is an NBA analyst for ESPN.