SEATTLE (Ticker) -- In the first half, the New Jersey Nets still appeared to be reeling from the sudden retirement of Alonzo Mourning. In the second half, they looked like a totally different team.
Kenyon Martin collected a season-high 27 points and 14 rebounds and Jason Kidd added 13, 11 and 10 assists for his third triple-double of the season as the Nets rallied from a 12-point deficit for a 93-70 rout of the Seattle SuperSonics.
Richard Jefferson added 12 of his 16 points after the break for New Jersey, which trailed at halftime, 45-36. Jefferson had six points during a 13-0 run to open the third quarter and the Nets did not look back, outscoring the Sonics, 57-25, over the final 24 minutes.
"I knew we had to come out with a lot of energy in the third quarter, and we did," Martin said. "We jumped on them right away in the third quarter."
It was the fewest points the Sonics ever had scored in a half.
"I just felt like we didn't fight, and that is what NBA basketball is all about," Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. "You're going to have teams that are going to make runs and you've got to fight back. We just continued to let those guys do whatever they wanted to do."
Rashard Lewis scored 14 points and Brent Barry and Calvin Booth added 12 apiece for the SuperSonics, who shot 34 percent (22-of-68) while allowing New Jersey to connect at 47 percent (38-of-81).
"Our containment was a lot better in the second half," Nets coach Byron Scott said. "We challenged shots a lot better and we got up and down the floor."
The Nets opened a five-game road trip a day after learning that Mourning had to retire due to a rapid deterioration of his kidney function. The 33-year-old center, who signed a four-year, $22 million contract in July after missing the entire 2002-03 season, needs a transplant.
"There was a lot of Zo," Scott said of his team's performance. "This team has had very great character and resiliency the last couple of seasons, and that's Alonzo Mourning to a 'T.'"
"Every time he took the floor it was like his last time, and I think that is the way we kind of played this evening," Kidd added. "He was one of the reasons why I came back (to New Jersey), and to lose Zo ... we are definitely going to miss him."
Kidd, who missed Saturday's 81-80 home loss to Toronto due to a sore left knee, had five points in the first 24 minutes.
"We were making plays, but none of them went in in the first half," Kidd said. "But we stuck with it. That's just the character of this team. We came out in the second half and made some shots and got some stops defensively."
New Jersey trailed, 45-33, before Rodney Rogers nailed a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left before halftime.
After taking a 64-59 lead into the fourth quarter, the Nets opened the period with 16-3 run that had the KeyArena crowd booing down the stretch.
"We hear it," said Seattle forward Vladimir Radmanovic, who scored 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting. "That's what's going to happen when we play like we played tonight. There was no execution. Eleven points in the fourth quarter, 14 points in the third, that's not our game."
