Spurs import own kid with 21-year-old guard from France

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Tony Parker, at 21, is a better player than Jason Kidd was at that age.

That assessment comes from Kidd himself, who has been outplayed by the speedy second-year point guard from France in two of the first three games of the NBA Finals.

The San Antonio Spurs lead the Nets 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 set for Wednesday night at New Jersey.

"I probably wasn't as good as Tony," said Kidd, who was a rookie with the Dallas Mavericks in 1994-95 when he was 21. "My game was passing and getting the ball to Jimmy (Jackson) and Jamal (Mashburn). I didn't have to score.

"Tony can do scoring and find the open guy, and he runs the team. They would not have won 60-something games if he wasn't as talented as he is."

Parker outdid Kidd in Game 3 by scoring 26 points, including four 3-pointers, with six assists, carrying the Spurs on offense for several key stretches late in the third quarter and early in the fourth as San Antonio took control.

Kidd shot just 6-for-19 with four turnovers and only three rebounds -- his second poor game of the series. Kidd shot 4-for-17 in Game 1.

Through the first three games of the finals, there has been one constant: The team that gets the better performance out of its point guard wins.

Parker had 16 points to Kidd's 10 in Game 1, while Kidd scored 30 to Parker's 21 in Game 2 as the Nets won.

The Nets said the key to stopping Parker in Game 4 will be to better defend the high pick-and-roll and side pick-and-roll plays that created so many open shots.

Many times, Parker would feign going around a screen by Tim Duncan, drop back and shoot his jumper. Other times, he'd use the screen to break toward the middle and shoot a soft floater from 6 feet and in.

"The big man has to be a little more aggressive in making Tony go a different route," Kidd said.

Aside from the X's and O's, there remains a subplot to the Parker-Kidd matchup that was a major focus of the buildup to this series -- the possibility that Kidd could become a member of the Spurs over the summer when he becomes a free agent.

Everyone who has seen Parker hold his own against Kidd in this series would wonder why the Spurs would even imagine replacing him, but that argument overlooks a tantalizing option.

What about playing Kidd and Parker together in the backcourt?

"I think Tony can play in the backcourt anywhere he wants to," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said Monday.

If the Spurs plan to make Kidd their No. 1 free agent target over the summer, Parker will not be blindsided by it.

"Since Tony came here, Pop (coach Gregg Popovich) and Tony and myself have spoken a lot about everything. Rest assured that we've gone through situations with Tony that lead him to understand what the opportunities are," Buford said. "Pop's been very specific about all the scenarios that might happen."

In the meantime, however, it will be Kidd's job to get his jumper working and to find a way to get the Nets back to playing the style of basketball that suits them best.

The Spurs have been able to get three or four defenders back quickly on defense to take away the Nets' fast-break opportunities. And their size along the front line with 7-footers Duncan and David Robinson has hindered the Nets from running many of the backdoor plays that often resulted in alley-oop dunks during the regular season and first three rounds of the playoffs.

San Antonio also has made extensive use of a zone defense despite Popovich's distaste for it.

"I've got that guy with me that used to be in college, he's making me do it, (P.J.) Carlesimo," Popovich said of one of his assistants. "I hate it. I think it's awful."

But the zone has been effective, forcing the Nets to choose between hoisting perimeter shots and driving into a clogged lane.

Nobody on the Nets aside from Kenyon Martin has been able to provide consistent offense.

Kidd is shooting just 35 percent, going only 3-of-14 (21 percent) from 3-point range.

Parker is shooting 46 percent overall and 50 percent from 3-point range, and his assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.0 is nearly double Kidd's.

And as Kidd said, he's further along at age 21 than Kidd was.

"That's always a nice compliment from one of the best point guards. It makes me want to work harder and I want to try to get better," Parker said.