In a sea-saw battle in the Fleet Center, the New Jersey Nets capped a miraculous late-season comeback to oust King James and the Cleveland Cavaliers from their playoff throne and clinched the 8th seed defeating the Boston Celtics 102-93.  With the newly acquired playoff birth comes the feared first round date with Shaquille O?Neal and his Miami Heat.

Vince Carter put the Nets on his back and carried them to victory scoring 37 points on 13-30 shooting, while going 6-8 from the 3-point arc.  Brian Scalabrine turned in another clutch performance scoring 12 points and pulling down 5 rebounds while also dishing out 4 assists in the win.

The Celtics seemed in control of the game early on, however, the Nets outscored the Celtics 32-8 in the third quarter and never really looked back after that.  Celtic stars Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker spent most of the second half on the bench for safety precautions as Boston had nothing to gain from a win.  Pierce finished having only played 25 minutes while Antoine Walker logged in 24.  

So the magic is over and the real test begins as the Nets must survive the first round versus the best team in the East.  When asked about the prospect of taking on Shaq in a seven-game serious, Nets forward Brain Scalabrine simply replied, ?We?ll be ready!?