Raptors 109, Nets 91: If this is a sneak preview at life after Jason Kidd, it wasn't pretty. Well, even if this isn't a sneak preivew, it wasn't pretty. The Nets never led and trailed by as many as 30 north of the border. Then they got word that the Kidd deal may not be done yet. Thanks to the veto of Devean George, who was in the deal to balance out contracts and not......

Islanders 4 Philadelphia 3: It has been a long three weeks since the Islanders last won. A seven-game losing streak came to a very satisfying end Tuesday night as New York came out firing against the Flyers. Trent Hunter got things going with a goal at 17:42 of the first. The Flyers tied it up in the second, but the Islanders took the lead and built it on two beautiful goals. Jeff Tambellini took advantage......

Pacers 103, Knicks 100: Remember in the 90s when these teams enjoyed one of the best rivalries in sports? Those were the days. In 2008, they're playing to see who can have the longest losing streak. The biggest loser: the Knicks. They have now lost seven straight, the same streak the Pacers brought into this game. Zach Randolph turned in an inspired effort of 26 points, but he and his teammates didn't appear motivated on......

Nets 87, Bucks 80: For one night at least, Jason Kidd did his best to help the Nets get maximum value in a trade. The Nets also proved that even they couldn't find a way to lose a weak team playing without its best player (Michael Redd). The fans cheered loudly for Kidd before the game, so they either want him gone -- and are cheering his efforts to leave -- or love him so......

Jason Kidd trade rumors are hardly new, but this time, they're probably for real. Nets President Rod Thorn and the guard have made no secret of the seemingly obvious incentives for both parties to want a deal before the Feb. 21 NBA trading deadline. Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter, the younger parts of the Big Three, have expensive contracts. Kidd has had enough of playing well for a team that is inconsistent at best and......

Timberwolves 98, Nets 95: Minnesota, with only eight wins on the season,hasn't been a complete rollover during the past 10 days, but that doesn't mean the team is any good. It was a good night for the Jeffersons -- Minnesota's Al had 41 and New Jersey's Richard had 35. The Nets have lost nine straight. The last six of those have come on the road against Western Conference teams. See for yourself which conference is......

You may not have realized it, but some of the other local teams had games Sunday and some of them were pretty important. Take for instance the Rangers who lost 3-1 to Boston, giving the Bruins the home-and-home sweep over the weekend. New York played well offensively, but made some stupid mistakes in the defensive zone and paid the price. They are in the thick of the playoff race in a wide-open Eastern Conference,......

Penguins 4, Rangers 1: Don't look now, but the Knicks aren't the only Madison Square Garden team in last place. Jaromir Jagr scored the Blueshirts' lone goal against his former team. The rest of the team seemed awed by Evgeni Malkin, who had a hat trick and led the Penguins to an easy victory. New York has 47 points in 46 games, and, despite being a game over .500, sits in the unenviable ninth spot......

Celtics 86, Nets 77: Maybe the Nets should play as well in the even quarters as they do in the odd periods. New Jersey got outscored 23-9 in the fourth quarter and fell to the 30-4 Celtics. Josh Boone did well -- except when he was at the free-throw line. He had 14 points and 16 rebounds in 37 minutes, but he went 0-for-6 from the stripe. The Nets as a team made only 9......

Rockets 101 Knicks 92: At least the fans had a couple of things to cheer about Wednesday. Giants’ running back, Brandon Jacobs got a standing ovation and Isiah Thomas got thrown out. Thomas was upset over the fact that Yao Ming wasn’t called for a charge and wandered onto the court, earning the ejection. Thomas may have had a case, but with his team only behind by three, it was a bad time to......

Nets 96, Magic 95: Vince Carter won this game with two clutch free throws at the end, but it was former Magic Darrell Armstrong who provided the biggest of several sparks off the bench. He had 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and a critical hand on defense during Orlando's last possession. The Nets outscored the Magic, 31-18, in the fourth quarter and have now won five of six games. If they keep this up,......

Devils 2 Sabres 1 (Shootout): The Devils won their third-straight game by continuing their stifling defense and throwing a lot of shots on goal. It took awhile, but Mike Mottau scored with seven minutes left in the third to tie the game and Zach Parise scored the only goal of the shootout for the win. New Jersey’s win extends their Atlantic Division lead over the idle Penguins and Rangers. Nets 109 Washington 106: The Nets......

Nets 100, Warriors 95: With three minutes to go in this game, the Izod Center sounded like a morgue, and the Nets appeared on their way to a disheartening loss. A 14-point lead had turned into a one-point deficit. Careless passes led to easy Warriors baskets. But the Nets win consecutive games around major holidays -- remember that winning streak over Thanksgiving? Because of that, the Warriors wouldn't score again. Or maybe it was......

Nets 105, Cavaliers 97: Maybe the Nets should wear their road uniforms at home more often. The Nets' last win before Friday came at Cleveland, but that was when the Cavs didn't have LeBron James. Cleveland had its star on the court at Izod Arena, but the Nets had theirs, too. Vince Carter had 32 -- tying a season high -- and James "settled" for 29. Josh Boone put in 15 for New Jersey, though......

Clippers 91 Nets 82: The Nets simply couldn’t shoot Tuesday night, finishing a dismal 32% from the field in an ugly loss to the Clippers at the Izod Center. Jason Kidd managed a triple-double and Richard Jefferson had 21 points, but it wasn’t enough to stop LA. Chris Kaman and Tim Thomas each had 18 points while Dan “the Knicks cut me this offseason” Dickau added 11 points off the bench. Carl Pavano isn’t sure......

Nets 100, Cavaliers 79: With Cleveland's triple-double machine LeBron James on the bench, the Nets' Richard Jefferson played king for a day. Only he's been doing this all season long. Tuesday's totals: 36 points, 11-of-18 shooting, 13-of-15 from the line. Lines don't get much better than that. The Nets don't want to get too cocky, however. Shannon Brown led the way for the short-handed Cavaliers. When someone who average five points stepped up with 20,......

Grizzlies 110, Nets 103: For whatever reason, the Nets don't do well at home after long road trips. Tuesday's loss was the fourth straight in the first game following a trip of three or more games. Everyone knows the Izod Center isn't the best home court, but the Nets need to do better than 3-6 at home. If the Nets played the entire game like they performed in the second half, they wouldn't be hanging......

Stars 3, Rangers 2: What good is outshooting the opponent 41-18 if it doesn't lead to a win? That's what the Rangers have to ask themselves after Sunday's disappointing loss to the Stars. No matter how this game is measured -- except for the score that is -- the Rangers appeared to outplay the Stars. Mike Smith repeatedly stifled the Blueshirts' attack, however, and goals from Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan didn't end up as......

Islanders 2, Rangers 1: For all the success the Rangers have had against the rest of the league, they still can't solve the Islanders. Five-game winning streak? Poof! Rick DiPietro made 18 saves and the Islanders won for the third time in three games between the two clubs. Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek each scored in the second period, and Michal Rozsival scored a short-handed goal for the Rangers. He now has seven goals......

Knicks 119, Nuggets 112: Isiah Thomas had his Knicks go toe-to-toe with the high-flying Nuggets, and they came out on top despite trailing by 15. Don't look now, but Thomas may have made a smart move in acquiring Zach Randolph. Eddy Curry is still overweight and Renaldo Balkman was still taken too early, but the Knicks put on quite a show for the Garden fans. And it didn't involve the fisticuffs of last season's......

Nets 112, Bulls 103 (OT): Despite blowing a 15-point, lead the Nets managed to win their 2007-08 opener against the Bulls at home. Antoine Wright had 14 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. His supporting cast included Richard Jefferson (29 points and 10 rebounds) and Vince Carter (24 points). The Nets and the Bulls both hope to move to the top tier of Eastern Conference playoff teams, and Day 1 was encouraging for New......

Rangers 4 Atlanta 2: The Rangers finished off their sweep of the Thrashers in dramatic fashion, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to finally take the lead on a goal that had to be reviewed for over five minutes. Five minutes into the third period, Matt Cullen unleashed a vicious slapshot that caromed off the top crossbar and appeared to bounce out of the crease. Replays showed the puck had bounced down into......

Yankees 10 Twins 1: Apparently, Alex Rodriguez should have come clean about his relationship with Derek Jeter years ago. Unburdened by no longer living a lie, Rodriguez has opened the season as well as anyone ever has, belting his sixth homer in seven games Tuesday night as part of a 10-run barrage by the Yankees’ offense. A-Rod got things started in the first and the other bats joined in later. Johnny Damon hit a three-run......

Yankees 10, Orioles 7: Yeah, you read the headline right. Alex Rodriguez came through in yesterday afternoon's game in the biggest way - with a two-out game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the 9th inning. It was his 2nd home run of the game. The bottom of the ninth inning went something like this: out, out, Robinson Cano single, Derek Jeter walk, Bobby Abreu hit-by-pitch, grand slam by Rodriguez into the black seats. Kei......

Rangers 6 Flyers 4: The bottom line is they got the two points. Yes, they almost threw away a big lead and yes, they made a lot of mental mistakes, but they got the two points. Henrik Lundqvist rebounded nicely from Tuesday’s shellacking, stopping 33-of-37 shots while Jagr netted two and Prucha got his 20th. The win leaves the Rangers in the seventh spot with four games left. Their margin for error remains razor-thin with......

Devils 3 Carolina 2: Local fans of all affiliations cheered on the Devils tonight as they came up with two goals in the third period to beat the Hurricanes. Martin Brodeur had another stellar game with 38 saves. Carolina’s loss leaves them with 78 points, tied with the Islanders and two ahead of the Rangers in the very tight Eastern Conference. The Devils moved to within two of Buffalo for the conference lead. Ottawa 5......

Senators 3, Rangers 2: Losing a game after holding a 2-0 lead in the second period is hard enough, but when the opponents' go-ahead goal touches your stick last before going in the net, it especially burns. That's what happened Tuesday. Marek Malik deflected a shot past Henrik Lundqvist in the third period, ending a seven-game points streak for the Rangers. This was their 21st one-goal loss this season, which could be bad luck but......

Nets 113, Grizzlies 102: Staring a winless road trip in the the face, the Nets played well -- for once -- and controlled the game from start to finish. Vince Carter scored 30, but most encouraging was Richard Jefferson and his 18-point performance in 28 minutes. Mikki Moore had 24 and Bostjan Nachbar had 14. Who would have thought at the beginning of the season the Nets would need that kind of performances to win?......

Sixers 99, Nets 86: Philadelphia may be playing better than the absolute garbage it trucked out for most of the season, but at some point New Jersey will have to perform better than this. Richard Jefferson wants to come back at the end of this six-game road trip, and that may help. The Nets rely too heavily on Vince Carter, who finished with nine points after missing his last 14 attempts from the field.......

Celtics 96, Nets 88 (OT): The Knicks do not have a local monopoly on losing to the Celtics. This loss was probably worse than New York's earlier this week. The Nets blew an 11-point lead with less than four minutes to play, allowing Boston to score on 10 of its last 11 possessions. By letting Boston star Paul Pierce take over, the Nets ruined their chances. Knicks 104, Hawks 100 (OT): One night after impressing......