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.

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."

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.

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.

Shaquille O'Neal returned to practice on Saturday and was noncomittal about his status for Game 1 of the playoffs.  

"You've got to start off in the right way," O'Neal said. "I've never missed a playoff game, I don't think. This is the first time where I'm going in iffy-iffy."

O'Neal still is undergoing multiple treatments daily to alleviate pain and swelling in the leg. If O'Neal cannot play, then former Nets center Alonzo Mourning is Miami's probable starter.

"Feeling pretty good. Went hard today," said O'Neal, who averaged 22.9 points and 10.4 rebounds in his first season with the Heat. "The true test is going to be how I feel when I wake up in the morning. ... I'll most likely be out there tomorrow unless I come in and I can't walk. Hopefully that's not the case."

Stan Van Gundy expects O'Neal to play.

"I'll play him as much as he can play," Van Gundy said. "At your biggest time of the year, you want all your best players available."

Richard Jefferson practiced with New Jersey for the first time in nearly four months on Friday, two days before the Nets take on the Miami Heat in the opening round of the playoffs.

?It feels good,? Jefferson said. ?It was kind of funny going on the court. Everybody was laughing and making fun of me. My wind wasn?t as strong as I would like, but it was good

?I?m not trying to come in and say I?m playing 15 minutes or 20 minutes. If they give me five minutes, that?s what I?ll play. If it?s 20, I?ll play 20,? Jefferson said.

?The first game Vince played was actually the game where I hurt my hand, so we?ve never been healthy throughout. Right now, this is Vince and J Kidd?s team, and I?m just trying to come out and help the team any way I can,? said Jefferson, who had a torn ligament in his left wrist.

Shaquille O'Neal did not practice on Friday, as he is healing from a thigh bruise.  His status for Game 1 of the playoffs remains unclear.

``If Shaq can't play, we'll go out there and play with the confidence we always play with, with the guys that we've got,'' Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. ``This is a team. And we'll try to win it for him if he can't play.''

Heat coach Stan Van Gundy expects O'Neal to practice Saturday. Game 1 against the Nets is Sunday afternoon.

O'Neal did not talk to reporters Friday. Earlier this week, he said he would play in Game 1.