Rod Thorn got to see only the final half-hour or so of the session. But it was enough to brighten his week.
Yesterday, Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin both returned to practice for the first time in nearly two weeks. Martin could play tonight against Eddie Jordan's Wizards depending on how the tendinitis in his left knee feels this morning.

Kidd, nursing a bone bruise in his left knee, is further away from playing. However, the fact that he has been cleared to practice a week and a half after he went on the injured list - when there was speculation of possible surgery - is encouraging for a team that has lost seven of its last nine games.

"(Martin) and Jason looked good. That's a step in the right direction," Thorn, the Nets CEO, said as he knocked on the wall for good luck. "(Kidd) seemed to be moving pretty freely."

"I'm not going to rush back," said Martin, who has watched the Nets go 1-5 without their two All-Stars. "It can only make it worse if I do that. I made one move and it bothered me. I had to stop real quick. Besides that it felt good.

"It will take more than two or three games to get into a groove. If it is not (tonight), then it will be soon. So we will see."