Ricky Davis shares the same view as his teammates when it comes to what the Cavaliers need to change at the start of their games.
"We need to come out and jump on teams like we're losing before the game starts," said Davis. "We need to jump out like we're mad at somebody."
The Cavs rallied from a 25-point third-quarter deficit and came within two during the final 50 seconds but came up short in a 91-89 loss to the New Jersey Nets last night at Gund Arena.
Chris Mihm led the Cavs with 19 points. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who played a season-high 25 minutes, had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Wes Person added 16 points, and Andre Miller had 14 points and 13 assists.
Jason Kidd led New Jersey with 27 points and 13 rebounds. He also came up big for the Nets (17-9) as he did against the Cavs (11-17) in two previous meetings.
"Jason Kidd is one of the best point guards in the league, and he has been the difference in all three games," said Cavs coach John Lucas.
But before Kidd was the difference-maker last night, the Cavs stormed back from being down, 64-39, with 9:10 left in the third. The Cavs rallied and trailed by 11 heading into the fourth.
Davis added some punch to the Cavs' late effort. His back-to-back jumpers cut the Nets' lead to six. Person's jumper cut it to four. Person came back with a perfect inside pass to Mihm, who caught the ball in stride and made the layup for an 86-84 deficit with 1:26 left.
"The main thing is that we didn't quit," Person said. "They had a big first quarter and we came back in the second half. We had a chance. All we had to do was execute."
That chance slowly began to fade once Kidd regained control. He dribbled through the Cavs' defense, went underneath the basket and dribbled out to the right wing.
"I dribbled through their defense because I was just exploring, like I always do," Kidd said.
"Then, once things settled down, and they thought I was going for a layup, I had it in my mind to take the three."
And he did.
Kidd splashed the shot, giving the Nets a five-point lead. Person answered with a trey on the Cavs' next possession for a two-point deficit with 47 seconds left. Then the crowd came to its feet when Miller and Mihm deflected a pass.
Miller brought the ball up court, and the Cavs got four shots at the basket before Kidd came up with the ball and was fouled with 4.1 seconds left.
"It was crazy," Davis said. "We were down two with a few seconds to go and we were scrambling for a shot. We had good looks, good shots and some good tips and it just didn't go in. It's just a matter of playing hard before we get to those situations."
Kidd iced the win with consecutive free throws for a four-point lead with 3.4 seconds left.