Boston - Only an NBA title could be more satisfying than the way the Nets walked into FleetCenter on Friday night and tuned out the nasty taunts, turned off the crowd noise, tore off a little piece of Celtics tradition and stomped on it in front of Red Auerbach and a pantheon of former Green-and-White greats to move one victory away from sweeping their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Memories were made, bonds were forged, and a team that was itself swept by the Lakers in the NBA Finals last season took a big step toward building a championship team. If point guard Jason Kidd decides to remain in New Jersey rather than leave as a free agent this summer, the possibilities suggested by the Nets' dominant Game 3 victory over Boston will be a major reason why.

The Nets once again are asserting themselves as best in the East. That might not be saying much, considering the weakened state of the conference, but if forwards Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson keep playing as well as they have against the Celtics, maybe they'll convince Kidd he doesn't have to join Spurs forward Tim Duncan to win a title when he could beat Duncan with the Nets.

"They both have grown up a lot in a very short period of time," Nets coach Byron Scott said yesterday of Martin and Jefferson, who combined to make 16 of 21 shots and total 45 points against the Celtics in Game 3. "Both those guys have shown to J. Kidd and all of us that you've got two future All-Stars right there that can be game-changers."