After the Nets’ 81–77 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series, coach Lawrence Frank told reporters: “It’s one game, you don’t overreact.”

Well, yes, you never want to overreact, but if ever a sense of urgency was necessary it’s to avoid falling into a 0–2 hole in a best-of-seven playoff series. Unless you’re facing the Houston Rockets these days, that kind of hole can be almost impossible to escape.

Both the Nets and Phoenix Suns enter tonight’s action looking to even their series and both face very tough challenges after close losses on Sunday afternoon.

The Nets may feel as if they’re playing a previous version of themselves. This year’s Cavaliers are a methodical team that relies on tough perimeter defense and scoring from a handful of players on the floor. That description fit the Nets for most of Frank’s coaching tenure, but this season the Nets have pumped up the tempo — no, not to the Suns level — but they have gone from the bottom of the league in possessions per game to the middle of the pack. However, Sunday’s game was played at the Cavs’ pace; there were 90 possessions, almost exactly their tempo for the regular season. This tempo enabled the Cleveland defense to set up and dig in. They harassed the Nets, one of the better three point shooting teams, into 5–20 behind the arc in Game 1. The Cavs also collapsed on Vince Carter forcing the Nets guard into a horrid afternoon; he shot 7–23.

The solution is simple: Push the tempo. But implementing that solution is another matter because it’s hard to run if you don’t have the ball. Cleveland dominated the boards by a surprising margin, 51–37. The culprit was the Nets’ starting frontcourt. Richard Jefferson, Mikki Moore, and Jason Collins combined for nine rebounds in 119 among between them. Since Jason Kidd is one of the best rebounding guards in the history of the game, and Carter is no slouch — they combined for 23 boards — the Nets don’t need their frontcourt to channel Bill Russell, but only nine rebounds suggests that they are channeling Spud Webb.

Cleveland coach Mike Brown is probably happy with the win, but the Cavs’ victory margin was very slim. If Sasha Pavlovic didn’t make that spectacular block on Kidd’s layup with less than two minutes to play, the game might have gone the other way. The Cavs will likely focus on getting their point guard Larry Hughes some driving room. Hughes is an inefficient outside shooter, but he compensates by getting to the line a lot. In the first round against the Wizards, he averaged seven free throws attempted per game. On Sunday, he went to the line only twice. In fact the Cavs attempted only 11 free throws the entire game, but much of that was because LeBron James playing through a cold. He’s expected to be at 100% tonight.

The key for both teams could be their ability to get to the line. Neither the Nets nor the Cavs have a deep bench. Getting key players in foul trouble will go a long way to deciding the game.

It’s likely that neither Spurs coach Greg Popovich nor Suns coach Mike D’Antoni was pleased after San Antonio’s 111–106 win on Sunday. Although the game was played at Phoenix’s preferred uptempo pace, the defensive stats sounded as if the Spurs’ game plan worked to perfection. The Spurs like to take away the middle and the three-point shot, thus forcing their opponents to settle for low percentage two-point shots as often as possible. It’s a difficult but lethal defense (in fact without Tim Duncan in the middle, the Spurs’ defensive game plan is probably impossible, which may be why so few teams imitate it). The Suns, one of the most effective teams from behind the arc (they averaged 40% on 24 treys per contest during the regular season) were limited to 6-of-14 on Sunday. Inside, the Spurs defense bottled up Suns center Amare Stoudemire, holding him to 6–19 shooting.

Although the Spurs executed their defense superbly, if Steve Nash hasn’t bled like Chuck Wepner, the boxer nicknamed “the Bayonne Bleeder,” then the Suns probably would have won this contest. Nash had his usual stellar game 33 points on 11–18 shooting. Stoudemire played solid defense with 18 boards and five blocked shots. The game essentially came down to the final possessions, and Nash was on the bench with blood streaming from his face after a head-on collision with the Spurs’ TonyParker, who had a stellar afternoon, shooting 14–22 from the field.

In tonight’s game, the Suns will have to rebound better. They usually get outrebounded, but the Spurs did it by a 49–35 margin, which is too many possessions to give up. Presuming that Nash stays in one piece, tonight’s game could come down to whether Stoudemire regains his shot or Parker loses a little off his.

For Phoenix the home court could provide the edge, while for the Nets a healthy LeBron may offset Frank’s strategic adjustments. If this happens, then it might be time to overreact.

mjohnson@nysun.com