Derrick Dial hasn't sent his laundry out, hasn't looked for an apartment. He wouldn't dare.

He hasn't been in the NBA a long time, just 41 games over parts of two seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. But that's long enough for Dial, who had one field goal in 21 minutes here last night in a 100-84 preseason victory over the Knicks, to know that tomorrow is promised to no 12th man.

A last-minute invitee to the Nets training camp, Dial appeared to wrap up the team's back-up point guard spot earlier this week when Danny Earl and David Vanterpool, his competition for the job, were sent packing. But as Dial knows, you never know and so he's still taking things day by day.

"You just play hard every night," he said. "The goal wasn't to get a roster spot, but to actually play, get minutes. The task is not yet done."