CLEVELAND CAVALIERS GUARD LEBRON JAMES is checked by an assistant coach after getting hit in the head by New Jersey Nets forward Richard Jefferson. James and the Cavs lost Saturday's Eastern Conference playoff game, 96-85.

East Rutherford, N.J. ? Coming home after two losses, the New Jersey Nets knew they needed to shoot better and rebound more.

Good thing they have Jason Kidd, who can do all that and more.

Kidd had his 11th postseason triple-double, breaking a tie with Larry Bird for second place on the career list, and the Nets beat Cleveland 96-85 Saturday to cut the Cavaliers’ lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals to 2-1.

“Kidd was obviously a monster,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “You have to give him credit. He did what he’s supposed to do. He stepped it up. He was aggressive. He scored for them, he got them easy looks, and last but not least the man rebounded and he was huge on that glass.”

Kidd, who is averaging a triple-double in this postseason, finished with 23 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds. For good measure, he even took some turns defending LeBron James, who was limited to 18 points in the lowest-scoring postseason game of his career.

“He was terrific. His intensity, his ability to attack the paint, his will and doing it on both ends playing at such a high energy level,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said.

“The triple-double, that is obviously such a tangible thing. He was tremendous on both ends. As a captain he set a great tone playing throughout their runs. He was obviously very, very special.”

Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson also scored 23 points for the Nets, who won their 10th straight home game and will try to even the series Monday night in Game 4 before it returns to Cleveland for Game 5 on Wednesday.

James was just 5-of-16 from the field and failed to score at least 20 points for the first time in his 20 playoff games. He added 12 assists, but looked frustrated late in the game after hitting the bottom of the rim on a reverse layup attempt.

James said the Nets did “pretty much nothing” special to stop him.

“I just tried to be patient and take what’s there,” he said. “I missed a lot of easy shots.”