And all of a sudden it gets interesting.

The New Jersey Nets have led the Atlantic, and with it the Eastern Conference, all season long, but with a loss to the Boston Celtics last night we now have a real dogfight on our hands.  The Nets, who have lost 5 of their last 6 and 7 straight on the road, now only lead Boston by three games.

"We're still the best in the East," Kidd said. "We're not hearing footsteps."

Byron Scott, the Nets coach, is none to pleased with his teams efforts to say the least.  He believes three of his starters are not pulling their weight, threatening to trim the rotation to five if the effort does not improve.

"I don't remember talking this morning about, ?When we rotate, you leave Pierce.' I don't remember talking about anything like that," said Scott, who told his team either perform or sit.

"Right now, we have some guys in there that are not carrying their weight, not getting the job done. They're going to have to step up to the plate. I told them, ?I'll play five guys if I have to.' If I have to trim the rotation from eight to five, that's what I'll do."

Playoff Picture Update:

Yesterday's Wizards-Clippers game was in big one in the playoff context, with Washington's loss allowing Miami to leapfrog both themselves and Toronto take take sole possession of the ninth place in the East, only one game out of the playoff race.

The Los Angeles Clippers win was a huge one for them as well, giving them the same number of wins as the eighth placed Utah Jazz, who have played two fewer games.  Phoenix remains three games behind Los Angeles in tenth place out West.