FanHouse Nets

The difference between the Nets and the Timberwolves is that Damien Wilkins bank shot.

The Nets visited Minneapolis on opening night. The game ended with Wilkins' circus putback, a final stitch in a fourth quarter comeback that ultimately pushed New Jersey into a sea of embarrassment. You see, since that game, neither the Nets or the Wolves have won a game. But it's not Minnesota testing historic blight -- it's New Jersey.

Bruce Ratner won't own the Nets much longer, as Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is set to take the reins soon. But Ratner's long-held dream -- to move the Nets to Brooklyn, as a cornerpiece of his massive Atlantic Yards development -- looks to become a reality within a few years, as the New York Court of Appeals today dismissed what is seen as the final major legal hurdle standing in the way of the project. Opponents of the project had sought a ruling that the state's use of eminent domain to free up land for the project had violated New York's consistution.

Ratner had been crunched for time, as a state-backed plan to sell tax-free municipal bonds to fund the construction of the project expires on Dec. 31. The New York Times reports Ratner's firm will sell those bonds next month. The arena -- dubbed the Barclays Center -- is expected to be completed in 2012, which means the Nets have two seasons (in addition to the current one) to kill, either at their current home, Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., or at the Prudential Center in Newark.

It got to the point when all Danny Ainge and his family could do to keep sane was laugh.

So Ainge's teenage nephew, Owen Toolson, offered up a knock-knock joke.

"Knock, knock,'' he said to his uncle.

"Who's there?''

"Owen.''

"Owen who.''

"Owen-13.''

Ainge, you see, coached the Phoenix Suns in 1996-97, and they got off to a 0-13 start. But even Ainge got a kick out of that joke.

During Sunday's game against the Nets, the Knicks' Nate Robinson fired a shot at the wrong basket, just after the first quarter buzzer had sounded. This infuriated his coach, Mike D'Antoni, because ... well, you never know, right? What if the shot had been released a split second before the buzzer, or the referees saw it that way, and decided to count the basket?

As it turns out, D'Antoni had nothing to worry about. Because according to the NBA rulebook, a player can't intentionally score a basket for the opposing team.

It's time for the Knicks and the Nets to end this nonsense and stop teasing their fans. It's time to stop dreaming. All the salary cap room in the world this summer isn't going to save NBA basketball in the New York/New Jersey area.

The two worst teams in the Eastern Conference will remain the worst for the next few years. So get used to it.

LeBron James won't be walking through the door anytime soon. It doesn't matter how storied Madison Square Garden feels, or how many celebrities come to the games, or how wonderful the Nets-to-Brooklyn blueprint looks, or even the intensity of James' crush on rapper Jay-Z.

Just after the first quarter buzzer sounded at the Meadowlands, Nate Robinson of the Knicks turned and fired a three-pointer at the basket of the New Jersey Nets. The shot went in, and, being as the period had already ended, the basket was waved off by the official.

No harm done, right? Uh, wrong. Mike D'Antoni was furious at Robinson for even trying such a stunt, especially with it coming so closely after the buzzer.

(UPDATE: Apparently, D'Antoni holds a grudge: he kept Robinson on the bench for the rest of the game.)

Knicks! Nets! NBA action at its finest. Video of the shot and the exchange, after the jump.

MILWAUKEE -- As the New Jersey Nets are ringing up losses, Scott Hastings has a vested interest.

Hastings, you see, was on the expansion 1988-89 Miami Heat that set the record for most losses to start an NBA season at 17. So Hastings is hoping the Nets will knock the Heat out of the record book, right?

Try again.

"Absolutely not,'' Hastings said. "We were a bad team. We deserved our record, and I'm disappointed any time anybody gets close. Go Nets.''

Most struggling teams tend to gloss over their losing ways when trying to sell tickets, but with winning in short no supply this season, the 0-10 New Jersey Nets have accepted that ignoring the big, fat goose egg in "W" column is no longer possible ...

... which is why they've unveiled the "10 is Enough" promotion, which involves giving every season ticket holder two free tickets to Tuesday's game and selling a bunch more tickets to the general public for $10 a pop. Yes, losing streaks are now fuel for advertising taglines.

The Nets have had a string of injuries take away their chance to be at all relevant the first part of this season, and in fact, they were winless through nine games heading into Miami to face Dwyane Wade and the Heat on Saturday. They appeared to have a chance to get their first win of the season, though, thanks to a sluggish effort from a Miami team that was missing Jermaine O'Neal from the start, and Mario Chalmers after five minutes due to injury.

New Jersey led by three with 30 seconds remaining, before Quentin Richardson accidentally banked in a three-pointer to tie the game at 78. The Nets got the lead back, thanks to a tip-in from Brook Lopez with just under four seconds remaining.

But unfortunately for the Nets, Dwyane Wade plays for the Heat. And even though he hadn't made a shot the entire second half, he drained a three with 0.1 left on the game clock to make sure that New Jersey stayed winless.

Video after the jump(er).

ORLANDO -- Magic center Dwight Howard arrived at Amway Arena for Friday night's game against the New Jersey Nets to find a handwritten note in his locker.

It was signed by the same guy who had been prodding him the past couple days, criticizing him for his lack of energy, his rebounding drop off and his sudden inability to block shots.

Howard read the note twice, then left it where he could see it again at halftime. He also saw it after the game, and he smiled.

"There is no one better or smarter in the NBA. All you need to do is play with great energy and enthusiasm,'' the note said. It was signed "Stan,'' as in Coach Van Gundy.