The 2005–06 New Jersey Nets season was the team's 39th season in the NBA. Without Brian Scalabrine, who was signed as a free agent with the Boston Celtics in the offseason, they began the season hoping to improve upon their 42-40 output from the previous season. They bested it by seven wins, finishing 49-33 and qualifying for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. The Nets lost in the second round to the eventual champions, the Miami Heat.

Roster

Regular season Season standings

Playoffs

| 1 | April 23 | Indiana | L 88–90 | Vince Carter (31) | Vince Carter (13) | Jason Kidd (8) | Continental Airlines Arena18,752 | 0–1 |- | 2 | April 25 | Indiana | W 90–75 | Vince Carter (33) | Jason Kidd (11) | Jason Kidd (13) | Continental Airlines Arena18,472 | 1–1 |- | 3 | April 27 | @ Indiana | L 95–107 | Carter, Jefferson (25) | Collins, Kidd (6) | Richard Jefferson (7) | Conseco Fieldhouse14,706 | 1–2 |- | 4 | April 29 | @ Indiana | W 97–88 | Vince Carter (28) | Nenad Krstić (8) | Jason Kidd (8) | Conseco Fieldhouse16,401 | 2–2 |- | 5 | May 2 | Indiana | W 92–86 | Vince Carter (34) | Vince Carter (15) | Jason Kidd (15) | Continental Airlines Arena18,804 | 3–2 |- | 6 | May 4 | @ Indiana | W 96–90 | Richard Jefferson (30) | Jason Kidd (12) | Jason Kidd (11) | Conseco Fieldhouse16,586 | 4–2

| 1 | May 8 | @ Miami | W 100–88 | Vince Carter (27) | Jason Kidd (9) | Jason Kidd (7) | American Airlines Arena20,208 | 1–0 |- | 2 | May 10 | @ Miami | L 89–111 | Vince Carter (22) | Nenad Krstić (7) | Jason Kidd (6) | American Airlines Arena20,227 | 1–1 |- | 3 | May 12 | Miami | L 92–103 | Vince Carter (43) | Jason Collins (11) | Jason Kidd (12) | Continental Airlines Arena20,102 | 1–2 |- | 4 | May 14 | Miami | L 92–102 | Vince Carter (26) | Nenad Krstić (14) | Jason Kidd (12) | Continental Airlines Arena19,474 | 1–3 |- | 5 | May 16 | @ Miami | L 105–106 | Carter, Jefferson (33) | three players tied (7) | Jason Kidd (8) | American Airlines Arena20,255 | 1–4

Player statistics

Regular season

|Vince Carter |79 |79 |36.8 |.430 |.341 |.799 |5.8 |4.3 |1.2 |0.7 |24.2 |- |Richard Jefferson |78 |78 |39.2 |.493 |.319 |.812 |6.8 |3.8 |0.8 |0.2 |19.5 |- |Nenad Krstic |80 |80 |30.9 |.507 |.250 |.698 |6.4 |1.1 |0.4 |0.8 |13.5 |- |Jason Kidd |80 |80 |37.2 |.404 |.352 |.795 |7.3 |8.4 |1.9 |0.4 |13.3 |- |Clifford Robinson |80 |13 |23.3 |.427 |.343 |.658 |3.3 |1.1 |0.6 |0.5 |6.9 |- |Jeff McInnis |28 |1 |17.4 |.441 |.188 |.690 |1.8 |1.9 |0.4 |0.1 |5.3 |- |Marc Jackson |37 |0 |11.7 |.446 | |.792 |2.4 |0.6 |0.1 |0.2 |4.6 |- |Jason Collins |71 |70 |26.7 |.397 |.250 |.512 |4.8 |1.0 |0.6 |0.6 |3.6 |- |Jacque Vaughn |80 |6 |15.4 |.437 |.167 |.728 |1.1 |1.5 |0.5 |0.0 |3.4 |- |Scott Padgett |62 |1 |11.6 |.353 |.347 |.794 |2.7 |0.7 |0.5 |0.2 |3.4 |- |Zoran Planinic |56 |1 |10.6 |.361 |.232 |.697 |1.3 |0.9 |0.4 |0.1 |3.4 |- |Lamond Murray |57 |1 |10.1 |.398 |.346 |.625 |2.3 |0.2 |0.3 |0.1 |3.4 |- |Bostjan Nachbar |11 |0 |8.8 |.375 |.143 |.625 |1.0 |0.5 |0.3 |0.0 |2.8 |- |Derrick Zimmerman |2 |0 |16.0 |.667

|2.0 |3.5 |0.0 |0.0 |2.0 |- |Antoine Wright |39 |0 |9.5 |.358 |.067 |.500 |0.8 |0.3 |0.1 |0.1 |1.8 |- |Linton Johnson |9 |0 |3.9 |.500 | |.250 |0.8 |0.2 |0.2 |0.0 |1.2 |- |John Thomas |2 |0 |18.0 |.167

|5.0 |0.0 |0.5 |0.5 |1.0

Playoffs

|Vince Carter |11 |11 |40.9 |.463 |.241 |.796 |7.0 |5.3 |1.8 |0.5 |29.6 |- |Richard Jefferson |11 |11 |39.7 |.545 |.414 |.825 |4.1 |4.1 |0.9 |0.4 |22.2 |- |Nenad Krstic |11 |11 |33.3 |.504 | |.711 |6.8 |0.7 |0.5 |0.9 |14.7 |- |Jason Kidd |11 |11 |40.9 |.371 |.300 |.826 |7.6 |9.6 |1.5 |0.2 |12.0 |- |Lamond Murray |11 |0 |17.9 |.389 |.353 |.818 |3.5 |0.2 |0.3 |0.0 |5.7 |- |Clifford Robinson |8 |0 |24.8 |.333 |.316 |.800 |3.3 |0.6 |1.1 |0.4 |4.5 |- |Jason Collins |11 |11 |27.5 |.360 | |.591 |5.0 |0.3 |0.5 |0.2 |2.8 |- |Jacque Vaughn |11 |0 |14.5 |.364 |.000 |.571 |1.0 |1.1 |0.2 |0.0 |2.5 |- |Scott Padgett |3 |0 |3.0 |.500 |.000 |.500 |1.0 |0.0 |0.3 |0.0 |1.0 |- |John Thomas |8 |0 |7.0 |.500 | |.500 |1.3 |0.3 |0.4 |0.1 |0.9 |- |Antoine Wright |5 |0 |2.0 |.250 | |.667 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.8 |- |Zoran Planinic |3 |0 |2.0 |.000 | |.000 |0.3 |0.7 |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |- |Bostjan Nachbar |1 |0 |1.0

|0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |} Player statistics citation:

Transactions

Trades August 9, 2005 To New Jersey NetsMarc JacksonTo Philadelphia 76ers2006 second-round pick February 23, 2006 To New Jersey NetsBoštjan NachbarTo New Orleans HornetsMarc JacksonLinton Johnson

Free agents AdditionsPlayerDate signedFormer teamJeff McInnisAugust 11Cleveland CavaliersLinton JohnsonSeptember 1San Antonio SpursLamond MurraySeptember 8Toronto RaptorsScott PadgettSeptember 8Houston RocketsDerrick ZimmermanOctober 4Austin Toros (D-League)John ThomasApril 18Atlanta Hawks

SubtractionsPlayerDate signedNew TeamBrian ScalabrineAugust 2Boston CelticsRon MercerAugust 15Billy ThomasOctober 27Washington WizardsScott PadgettJune 30

References