In the race to make the playoffs and avoid the dreaded 8th seed and a date with Miami, the middle teams of the East are looking for that magic end-of-the-season run.

The New Jersey Nets have seemingly gone through many seasons in this 2004-05 campaign. So many lineups, so many players, so many injuries, and so much inconsistency. Yet, on the heels of a 3-game winning streak, and with the inconsistency of the teams around them, they are very much in the playoff hunt. For me, making the playoffs as the eight seed is pointless. You might as well load up for the lottery instead of being the sacrificial lamb for the Heat. However, there is a good chance of getting even as high as the sixth seed right now.

The Nets sit 4 games back of the sixth seed Indianapolis Pacers. Coincidently, the Nets have a home-and-home with the Pacers starting in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon and finishing up in Jersey on Tuesday night. They will play one more in Indianapolis in late April. The Pacers continue to give Rick Carlisle the effort but without Artest or O?neal, and with the urgency of the games for New Jersey, the Nets need to take care of business if they are serious and poised for the playoffs.

The Nets are 3.5 games back of the seventh seed Chicago Bulls. New Jersey swept the season series 4-0, so there is not much more that they can do themselves to gain ground on the Bulls. The Bulls are quite young, however, and might just slip up themselves.