EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The issue has been brought up before, after the first loss to the Indiana Pacers in the first round and the first defeat in the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.

If Kerry Kittles and Keith Van Horn don't score, the New Jersey Nets don't win.

	Van Horn

	Kittles

The axiom has become as common of a postseason saying as "defense wins championships" for the Nets. The theory was re-introduced for debate after Game 1 of the NBA Finals when Kittles and Van Horn endured more double trouble in shooting a combined 8-for-21 for only 21 points in a 99-94 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

"That's very true," Kittles said. "When we're making plays and we're making shots, the team is a much better team. We have to continue to help the team offensively and look to score and make plays."

Kittles and Van Horn may as well have been sitting courtside with Jack Nicholson early on, as the Lakers' lock down of the Nets' fastbreak rendered them spectators in the first quarter.

Kittles buried the franchise's first shot in Finals history on a 22-foot jumper just 34 seconds into the game, but the duo would team up for just eight first-half points on 3-of-11 shooting. Van Horn didn't score until 8:41 left in the second quarter and ended up missing nine of his 14 field-goal attempts.

"We probably took a few quick shots and settled on jumpers a little too much instead taking the ball into the paint," said Van Horn, who finished with 12 points. "That's what happens when you play a little lethargic: You kind of settle. We did a little too much of that in the first quarter."

The Nets can expect to get more wide-open looks from the perimeter. The Lakers clogged the middle of the court to deny New Jersey's favorite play -- the backdoor cut -- and the ploy worked as New Jersey shot just 39.4 percent (37 for 94) and made only 5 of 16 3-pointers (31.3). Phil Jackson has no plans to change that strategy until someone on the Nets starts hitting jump shots.

Guess who'll be sharing that burden.

"We have to make them," Kittles said. "That's the way they're playing us, and that's the way Boston played us. We have to make those shots in order to pull those guys out (of the paint)."

Drilling that first jumper often does wonders, especially for the sensitive psyches of Kittles and Van Horn.

"Yeah, it is a confidence booster whenever you make that first shot," said Kittles, who overcame an 0-for-17 drought on 3-pointers in the East finals. "But if you're a confident player and you believe in what you can do, you won't let that first shot affect how you play the rest of the game."

Jason Kidd makes the Nets go, but Kittles and Van Horn who have got them to where they are today. New Jersey is 7-1 in the playoffs when Kittles and Van Horn score in double figures. When they don't, the Nets are 4-5.

"It's real crucial to get those guys going," Nets guard Lucious Harris said. "You saw how we got off to a bad start. Not to blame them -- it was everybody -- but we just couldn't make shots. It's vital that they come out and play well."

"We know what we did wrong," Van Horn said. "We know how we need to change our mindset ... and I feel comfortable that we will."

Joe Lago is the NBA editor for ESPN.com.