The New Jersey Nets lost a tough one last night to the Miami Heat in doulbe overtime 108-105. They are now down 3-0 in this best of seven series. More than the impending doom of that fact, though, is that the Nets showed their fans some signs of life. They came out and wanted this game.

They pushed the Heat to the limits. Jason Kidd and Vince Carter both nearly ended up with triple-doubles, which would have been the first time such an event happened in the playoffs. Richard Jefferson showed you what you have missed over the past four months and why he is a star in this league. Nenad Krstic has shown that with a good strength training regimen where he adds twenty pounds to his frame he can be a major difference maker. With a reshuffling of the role players around those four players the Nets will be an upper echelon team again.

The encouraging aspect of game 3 against the Heat is that the will to win has not left the core guys. As long as you combine that will to win with this kind of talent, the next couple of years will be fine for New Jersey.

Bobby Simmons of the Los Angeles Clippers was named the winner of the 2004-05 NBA Most Improved Player Award, the NBA announced today. The annual award is presented to a player who has made a dramatic improvement from the previous season or seasons.

Simmons is the first Clipper to be honored with the Most Improved Player award since its inception. He also becomes the first player with NBDL (2002-03) experience to be honored with one of the NBA?s annual awards.

Simmons received a total of 384 points, including 59 first-pace votes, from a panel of 123 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Miami?s Dwyane Wade finished second with 129 points (15 first-place votes) followed by Detroit?s Tayshaun Prince with 107 points (14 first-place votes). Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third place vote received.

?Bobby plays the game with toughness,? said TNT analyst Doug Collins. ?He plays hard. He gives you his best effort all the time. He?s smart. He shoots the ball well and he?s an all-around player.?

A former member of the NBDL?s Mobile Revelers, Simmons is in his fourth NBA season and averaged 16.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists over 37.3 minutes per game this season. He improved his scoring average from last season by 8.6 points, his rebounding average by 1.2 rpg. Simmons also increased his field goal percentage to .466 (up from .394 in 2003-04) and three-point field goal percentage to .435 (up from .167 in 2003-04).

He started 74 of the 75 games in which he played for the Clippers this season, leading the team in scoring on 12 occasions, rebounds five times, assists six times and steals 21 times.

A second round selection in the 2001 NBA Draft (42nd pick overall) by the Seattle SuperSonics, Simmons spent two seasons with the Washington Wizards (2001-02 and 2002-03) before signing with the Clippers prior to the 2003-04 season.

The Miami Heat have not won a postseason game on the road since May 12, 2000.  Tonight in New Jersey the Heat will have a pretty good shot to change their 'away' misfortune.

After all, none of those past teams had the NBA?s most dominant center in Shaquille O?Neal.

"It's going to be a whole lot different," coach Stan Van Gundy warned of what's to come at the Meadowlands. "I don't have any doubts that we have an understanding of that."

Dwyane Wade must be another 'Handsome Boy Graduate.'

Sean Combs has selected Wade to appear in his Sean John autumn/winter ad campaigns.

According to WWD, Wade will pose for all three of the Sean John lines: Sean John, Sean John Collection and Sean John Tailored.

The ads will be shot by Jonathan Mannion next month and will appear on billboards across the US and in glossy magazines in September.

Wade also will be featured as one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People when the magazine hits newsstands on Friday, April 29.

Wade is the only NBA star and one of only four athletes featured in the issue, joining international soccer star David Beckham, tennis phenom Maria Sharapova and former NFL player Tim Green.

Wade becomes the second HEAT player to be featured in the 50 Most Beautiful People issue, joining Alonzo Mourning, who was featured in the issue in the mid-1990s.

The Miami Heat had a 26-16 first quarter lead to set the tone of the entire game, as they defeated the New Jersey Nets 104-87.  

The series now shifts to New Jersey with the Heat holding a commanding 2-0 lead.

Alonzo Mourning led the Heat with 21 points, while Shaquille O'Neal, Eddie Jones and Damon Jones each had 14 points.

Nenad Kristic scored a game-high 27 points on 8-13 shooting and 11-12 from the free throw line.

In a recent polling of 20 beat writers who cover the NBA, Phoenix point guard Steve Nash narrowly edged out Miami?s Shaquille O?Neal for the MVP title.  Shaq was followed by Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and Allen Iverson in that order.

Forget about all the teams he disappointed and left behind, collecting checks along the way, Alonzo Mourning is happy about the situation he is in and doesn?t care about what the New Jersey Nets have to say.

"Everybody has their own selective opinion about the situation," he said, "which is comical to me."

In New Jersey, Alonzo Mourning, a player who has seemingly sat out more games than he has played, became unhappy with the direction owner Bruce Ratner was taking his beloved Nets.

"I wasn't loyal," he said, mocking the criticism of his departure, "that I didn't appreciate what they did for me. Little do people know, I had better offers out there to play for other teams. Much better offers. But my ultimate goal wasn't the money. I wanted to be somewhere where I could win. Money was secondary at that point."

Mourning does understand the absurdity of the situation and has leaned a valuable lesson.

"I understand the irony in it all," he said yesterday. "That's how things work. When you go from one place, and you're trying to accomplish a goal, you've got to go through paths that you've gone through before."

Postgame X-rays taken on Nets F Nenad Krstic's back Sunday were negative, revealing only a bruise. He was hurt trying to defend Shaquille O'Neal in the fourth quarter of Game 1.

Krstic will be crucial for the Nets in their attempts to slow down O'Neal.

Dwyane Wade and Damon Jones scored 32 and 30 points respectively, taking a heavy load off the injured Shaquille O'Neal to beat the New Jersey Nets by a final score of 116-98.

Richard Jefferson returned to the Nets' line-up, playing 23 minutes and scoring 9 points.  Vince Carter scored had 27 points on 8-21 shooting.

O'Neal had 17 points and 11 rebounds in just 32 minutes of action.

Jones was nearly perfect for the Heat, shooting 10-12 from the field.

The most valuable thigh in the world is reportedly at around 80-85% healthy, according to its owner Shaquille O?Neal.

"The true test is going to be how I feel when wake up in the morning," said O'Neal, who missed the final two games of the season after Jermaine O'Neal kneed him in the thigh. "I've been getting double treatments every day. I've been getting a lot of rest. I'll most likely be out there unless I can't walk."  

In the 2002 Finals, O'Neal averaged over 36 points per game against the Nets.

"It felt kind of weak, but nothing that's going to slow me down too much," O'Neal said of his thigh.