Despite Sunday night’s 96-67 stomping of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Nets find themselves 13 games under .500 and on the outside of the East playoff picture. With five contests remaining, these type of wins matter more for head coach Lawrence Frank’s resume than anything else.

The term “under .500″ doesn’t bode well for the sixth-year coach. After four straight playoff appearances, the Nets appear on their way to back-to-back missed post seasons. Frank, who has a $4.5 million guaranteed deal for 2009-10, and his club aren’t ready to give up just yet.

“We’ve just got to come out like we did tonight,” rookie center Brook Lopez said about the 29-point victory. ” We’re going to play every game with our best effort and do what we can.”

The Nets still have an opportunity to capture the eighth playoff spot in the East thanks to Sunday’s win. But, one more loss and the door completely shuts. With Boston, Detroit and Orlando — all playoff teams so far — ahead on the schedule, the Nets’ road to the post season is going to be sudden death.

“Right now, it’s just trying to win games to get into the playoffs,” Vince Carter said. “We feel very capable, and anything can happen once we get there, but getting there is our quest right now.”

New Jersey isn’t built to contend with the top-tier NBA teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. Keyon Dooling will never outduel Kobe Bryant in a seven-game series. Similarly, Ryan Anderson has no chance against LeBron James. One night, maybe. Seven games, sorry.

The Nets’ core is currently constructed of Carter, Lopez and Devin Harris. There’s still a chance the Nets try and trade Carter away this off-season. If they do, they won’t get much in return. Not because Carter isn’t still a 20-point-a-night guard, but because of his $20-million plus contract. They also risk losing fans from what little attendance they do have by making that move.

Harris is one of the top young point guards in the league, averaging 22 points and seven assists per game this year. He and Lopez, a Rookie of the Year candidate, give the Nets youth to build upon in this year’s draft and perhaps free agency.  They can get by with Yi Jianlian at the forward spot for next season, but should look for a combo guard-forward or power forward with their first-round pick.

Lopez knows these next five games are critical, and he’ll have to do his part to help out in the paint.  The Stanford product feels the experience he’s gained has prepared him for these match-ups against the likes of Dwight Howard and Rasheed Wallace.

“Knowing that you’re playing on the same level as them is a big deal for me.  My team has shown me enough confidence to get me the ball or involve me in plays against them.  If I make a mistake they just keep telling me ‘keep going.’  It’s just been a great learning experience for me,” Lopez said.

One game at a time.  That’s how Nets coaches and players are viewing this upcoming stretch.  After all, there’s no other way in but win.

“At this point, it’s just another game,” forward Jarvis Hayes said. “We just have to execute as best as we can.  You can’t put anything more into it.”

“I look to see how (head coach) Lawrence (Frank) is doing, but other than that, there’s nobody left here to follow,” Martin said before Saturday’s game at the Izod Center.

Martin, a fan favorite in his four years with the Nets, has fond memories of playing in East Rutherford.  During those years, the Nets were in the playoffs annually, including back-to-back trips to the Finals.  This season, Martin is part of a Denver team (34-17) that he feels is much more talented than any of the ones he played on in New Jersey.

“As long as we keep going in that direction, not having any letdowns, it’s great,” the quiet forward said.

“I don’t know if the word is a peace we’re going to play the right way and be in every game,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “But, it’s more so now than ever before.”

Since Martin was traded to the Nuggets in 2004, the Nets have endured some major turnover.  Only a few coaches remain from those teams that lost in the Finals, and even their logo is different.  It’s all part of the rebuilding phase.

New Jersey (24-28) again find itself at the bottom of the East playoff standings.  As of Monday, they hold the eighth and final spot, but there’s a cluster of teams closely behind.

“You look at it and there’s really 14 teams that are involved in the playoffs,” Frank said. “I think that you can only really worry about yourself and the way you play.  If you focus on those, the wins will take care of themselves.”

The Nets feature one of the top backcourts in the NBA with All-Star’s Devin Harris and Vince Carter manning the guard spots.  Harris is averaging 21.8 ppg and just over six assists this season.  Carter, meanwhile, is dropping over 20 points and grabbing more than five rebounds a game.

In front of them is center Brook Lopez, one of the top rookies in the league, who is averaging 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  On both sides of Lopez are a number of key role players (Keyon Dooling, Jarvis Hayes, Bobby Simmons), several of which have stepped in nicely since Yi Jianlian went down with a hand injury.

Based on Saturday’s performance, you would have thought the Nets were among the best teams in the NBA, not the Nuggets.  Harris led all scorers with 28 points and rookie forward Ryan Anderson picked up his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.  Six players scored in double figures and all but guard Chris Roberts-Douglas made a basket.

The final: Nets 114, Nuggets 70.

Forty four points.  That was the differential on the scoreboard at the end of the game.  It was the Nets biggest victory in franchise history and the Nuggets largest loss since April 16, 1997.  I guess the Nets mastered Denver’s man-to-man defense.

“We can’t be too overconfident with this win,” Anderson said. “We have so many talented teams coming up that we can’t overlook them.”

“Everybody’s really on the same page now and just working together,” Carter said. “There’s more communication on the floor, especially on the defensive end and sharing the ball on the offensive end.”

Harris said the win should show other teams in the East that the Nets aren’t an easy win on their schedules.

“We’re improving as a team,” Harris said. “You can’t just hone in on two guys now.  We’ve got five or six guys playing really well right now and counting.”

The win was the Nets’ fourth in a row, a new season high.  It’s not enough to make teams in the East worry, but it’s a start.

“We’re just trying to build on what we’re doing lately,” Dooling said. “I don’t worry about sending messages.  We are just trying to stay in the playoff hunt and get better as a team.”

In February, Suns general manager Steve Kerr knew he had to shake things up.  There was a group of teams in the West playing better than his and he knew it was going to be a tough fight with the playoffs just around the corner.

So Kerr went out and traded for the 7-foot-1, 210-pound man known simply as “Shaq.”

The move was criticized, many questioning why they’d deal for an injury-plagued older player.  Kerr didn’t listen and the critics have since been silenced.

The Suns, who are 16-9 since the move was made, are playing their best ball of the season.  Most importantly, the deal has Amar’e Stoudemire emerging as a legitimate MVP contender.

“Getting Shaq allowed me to play my natural position,” Stoudemire said, referring to the power forward spot. “I don’t have to go up against all the big guys anymore and can play away from the basket.”

Stoudemire is averaging 25 points, fourth best in the league, and close to 10 rebounds a game.  The 25-year-old is having more fun than ever before.

“It’s a lot of fun.  That’s what this game is all about,” Stoudemire said. “You really have got to enjoy the time while you’re playing… When you’re winning, it’s a lot of fun, you feel really good about it.”

O’Neal is one of those endorsing Stoudemire for MVP, something he used to do for another former teammate: Kobe Bryant.

“Amar’e is really our go-to-guy and he’s playing fabulous; he’s putting up MVP-type numbers,” O’Neal said, sitting on metal folding chair inside the New Jersey Nets’ visiting locker room. “Everybody else is just asked to play roles and that’s fine with me at the timber age of 36.”

The man may be a “timber“ 36, but O’Neal is playing as well as he has in years. The 14-time All-Star is finally healthy and, for once in his career, he’s not being counted on as the team’s only leader.

“It’s cool. I’m on a team that I have a lot of guys can do a lot of different things. I’m not really asked to do much,” O’Neal said.

They may not fully count on Shaq, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still a scary presence on the inside.

“He’s a different beast. The guys huge, man. He’s a massive beast,” Stoudemire said.

That massive beast was brought in to bring home a title — nothing too big for him to handle.

“It’s not mathematically impossible, until it is, we still have an opportunity,” Nets forward Vince Carter told me.

Carter has become the Nets go-to-guy now that Jason Kidd is in Dallas. Ten years and $62 million dollars will do that to you.

“We’re just trying to figure out what we can do to get over the hump. Every play, every game counts right now. We have to play with a fire if we want that second season.”

As of Tuesday, the Nets are three games out of the final playoff spot. The Atlanta Hawks own that eighth spot and have been a hot team over their last 10 games (8-2).

Beginning tonight against Philadelphia, the Nets finish out the last eight games of the season against Eastern Conference opponents. Of the group, only Milwaukee and Charlotte have worse records.

“We put ourselves in the position where we have to win games the last couple of years,” Carter said. “We were resilient and found a way to get it done so hopefully history can repeat itself.”

Nets head coach Lawrence Frank sat in his office on Saturday, talking about how he believes the Nets are not out of the race. He says it just takes some willpower.

“Focus, effort, discipline. Trust me, there’s no practice time to change things now, this has to be changed on the run. It’s about intent,” Frank told me.

With the time running out, the Nets’ go-to-guy knows it’s time for him to take charge.

“I’m going to finish it out to the last day,” Carter, never looking more serious, said. “Hopefully I can get everybody on board, fight it out, and find a way.”

His handshake is weak.

Then again, any stronger and he’d probably crush mine.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard LeBron James sits on a metal folding chair inside the Izod Center’s visiting locker room, back wrapped in ice and a towel around his neck. It’s a corner spot, close to new forward Wally Szczerbiak.

Kids his age are ballin’ in college, many hoping for a shot to ride the bench in the NBA. On this night, this 23-year-old just dropped 42 points on his way to another triple-double against the New Jersey Nets. He doesn’t look defeated after the 103-99 loss, just tired. That’s what playing 46 minutes will do to you.

This the first game the NBA’s premier superstar has played against the Nets since Jason Kidd was traded to the Dallas Mavericks. LeBron notices something immediately.

“With Jason on the court, the game’s definitely faster. He’s just such a quick player,” James tells me.

Kidd’s replacement, 25-year-old Devin Harris, didn’t do so bad himself. LeBron even calls the former first-round draft pick, “one of the best young point guards in the league.”

Harris dropped 19 points, most coming in a crucial fourth quarter when the Nets were able to hold off the surging Cavs. With strong defense, the Nets handed the Cavs their third loss in three meetings between the two squads.

“We can’t wait until the fourth quarter to say, okay, let’s go, let’s turn it on,” Cavs coach Mike Brown told me outside the locker room. “We got to go out with a sense of urgency from the beginning of the game. It doesn’t mean put teams away, but at least make somebody feel you.”

“The Nets are a good team, they played well tonight and they just have beaten up on us all season long. We play them again, one more time, and so we’ll have to come up with a game plan to get them next time,” James said.

Five games left in the season is the next time the two teams meet up. The playoffs are within striking distance and the Nets — not the Cavs, they’re already in — will be fighting for that eighth and final spot.

You can bet the next time the two teams meet up, James will be ready.

I’d shake his hand on that one.

Lawrence Frank:

Scott: “I know you’ve played Shaq when he was with the Heat. I also know you’ve seen him on tape with the Suns. What kind of different Shaq are you seeing with his new team?”

Lawrence: “Well, I think he’s healthy and there’s no substitute for health. I think in Miami he obviously wasn’t completely healthy, he was dealing with injuries, but now he’s healthy, he’s running the floor well and he’s doing the things that he did when he was healthy with Miami.”

Scott: “Despite losses here and there, you guys have put up over 100 points in seven of your last nine games. You have to be proud about that.”

Lawrence: “The one thing I take pride in is wins. So, for me, it’s whatever it takes to win and I think, yea, we’ve been able to show the ability to score, which is positive, but we’re going to have to be more committed on the other end in order to get the wins. There are teams in this league that score and don’t guard, and very few win. There’s a couple that do because they have unbelievable fire power. I think for us it is our advantage with the personnel for us to run, yet at the same time we’re going to have to be a little bit more committed to running back on the other end and stopping the ball and giving help and we’re not going to be a great defensive team, but we can’t be towards the bottom. We have to be a bend, but don’t break defensive team. I think if we can combine the fact of offensively put up the type of numbers we going to put up and playing defense at a higher level than I think we’ll give ourselves a better shot to win.”

Mike D’Antoni:

Scott: “Coming back like that in the first half and going into half time with the lead, is that the kind of thing that shows you that this team is really starting to gel together?”

Mike: “Yea, because I thought we came out flat and we Steve (Nash) had a little bit of a shoulder issue. His shooting was off and we just weren’t sharp. We just kind of rolled into them, we just kind of picked it up. It is the kind of makings of a good team, we have to do that. I’m not happy we didn’t come out sharp, but we righted the ship and got it done, which is important on the road especially.”

Steve Nash:

Scott: “Talk about going into half-time with the lead after being down most of the first half.”

Steve: “I think we did a good just hanging in there. We didn’t play very well to start the game and we were sluggish, but we really hung in there and got ourselves some stops. We started to get a rhythm offensively, got the lead at the half and went on a nice run to start the second half and that’s kind of where we renewed ourselves.”

Shaquille O’Neal:

Scott: “Shaq, I know you’ve only played the Nets once this year, but what do you notice about this Nets team without a Jason Kidd on the floor?”

Shaq: “Different, it’s unusual. It’s just the last two games, in the last arenas, it’s been different. It was different for me going to Philadelphia without Iverson. It’s different coming here without Jason Kidd and TJ sitting on the sideline. Hopefully they’ll get it together and hopefully they can still make a run for that eighth spot.”

Scott: “How much fun are you having playing basketball right now?”

Shaq: “It’s cool. I’m on a team that I have a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things. I’m not really asked to do much. You know, Amare is really our go-to guy and he’s playing fabulous, he’s putting up MVP-type numbers. Everybody else is just asked to play roles and that’s fine with me at the timber age of 36.”

Amare Stoudemire:

Scott: “With a team like this, you guys are putting up a ton of points, how fun is it to play basketball right now?”

Amare: “It’s a lot of fun. That’s what this game is all about. You really have got to enjoy the time while you’re playing. Most guys play only like five, six years so that’s why you really have to enjoy your time now. When you’re winning, it’s a lot of fun, you feel really good about it.”

Scott: “Do you think you can rip a net down with your bare hands?”

Amare: “(Laughs) No. He goes from ripping down backboards to nets.”

Scott: “Have you ever seen a net come down like that?”

Amare: “No, I haven’t.”

Scott: “Guys run up there before the game, hang on it sometimes, but then again, Shaq’s a different kind of person.”

Amare: “He’s a different beast. The guys huge, man. He’s a massive beast.”

Vince Carter:

Scott: “What is this Suns team like with Shaq on it now?”

Vince: “They’re pretty good. They just made a good team a little better. Especially when they shoot the free throws as well as they did. I lost a lot of money betting Shaq. (Laughs)”

(The following interviews are archived from “Scott Stanchak Exclusives” on ScottStanchak.com)

Mike Brown:

Scott: “What does that say about your defense that the Nets had six players in double figures?”

Mike: “What defense? (Pause five seconds)  For us it’s been this way the whole year, which is a scary thing is, we just kind of go through the motions, go through the motions, go through the motions. When it’s fourth quarter time, as the ball game goes along, we look up and we’re getting down double digits and now there’s a sense of urgency and now we try to get stops.  Well, we have to figure out how to do that for 48 minutes, or for as close to 48 minutes as possible.  We can’t wait until the third quarter, we can’t wait until the fourth quarter to say, okay, let’s go, let’s turn it on.  We got to go out with a sense of urgency from the beginning of the game.  It doesn’t mean put teams away, but at least make somebody feel you.  We don’t.  Not only that, but early in the games, we’ve been turning the ball over too and that’s something we’ve got to do a better job doing of trying to eliminate.”

LeBron James:

Scott: “On the court, how much of a different team is this Nets team than when Jason (Kidd) was on the floor with them?”

LeBron: “With Jason on the court, the game’s definitely faster.  He’s just such a quick player.  That’s not to take anything away from Devin Harris though.  I really think he’s one of the best young point guards in the entire league.  The Nets are a good team, they played well tonight and they just have beaten up on us all season long.  We play them again, one more time, and so we’ll have to come up with a game plan to get them next time.”

(The following interviews are archived from “Scott Stanchak Exclusives” on ScottStanchak.com)

Lawrence Frank:

Scott: “With All-Star weekend, do you kind of look at that as a start of a whole new season coming out of that half?”

Lawrence: “The All-Star break is obviously past the mid point. I think typically you can’t focus on the All-Star break. Sometimes individuals and teams start talking about the break a week before the break and they go on break. For us, we’re not in the position with the hole we dug ourselves, we just have to focus on our next opponent, Minnesota, who beat us in their place. Then once the All-Star break happens, basically that’s when you start seeing the teams start fighting for seeding, home-court advantage and entry. The games start to take a little bit more importance as you get down to 20 and then you notice the intensity level. Then as you get down to 10, the teams that are fighting for seeding and entry. It’s a build up. There’s the excitement at the beginning of the season, there’s the dog days and then as you get into the last third, there’s heightened intensity. For us, all we can worry about is having a good day at practice tomorrow and get ready for Minnesota.”

Richard Jefferson:

Scott: “Talk a little about the defensive effort tonight. It seemed like just a pestering on the outside too by Sean Williams and you guys inside.”

Richard: “Well, it started with Josh. It started with Josh Boone. You know, Josh did a great job. You look at normally he gets a lot more rebounds, but he was so zoned in on Dirk. If he got into foul trouble or we took him out of the game than Sean Williams did a great job. And their different type of defenders. Sean uses his length and athleticism; Josh is a more of a position and size guy. To give him different looks… it’s Dirk. There’s some nights where no matter what you do or who you put on him, you can’t stop him. Tonight we had a good rhythm defensively, but you never know, the next night you might never be able to stop him.”

Scott: “That’s a huge thing to have two guys like that be able to go up against one of the top 5 players in the NBA and be able to hold him like that.

Richard: “Yea, but Dirk has a great team around him too. It wasn’t all about us just stopping Dirk. Those guys are doing a great job, they’re coming along well and we just have to continue and hope they continue to grow.”

Jason Kidd:

Scott: “For Josh and Sean to have a game like that against Dirk, what does that do for their confidence going forward?”

Jason: “Well, I think those are two confident guys, talking about Sean and Josh. They’ve been coming off the bench in our plans and now starting, now Sean’s back on the bench and it shows the true professionalism of Sean. He’s going in and out, doesn’t know if he’s starting so for him to come and play with the energy he has shows the type of player. Those guys are working every day to get better.”

Vince Carter:

Scott: “Two good games, back-to-back, right now. You’re heading into the All-Star break and this really is the time you need to start picking things up.”

Vince: “It is. The sad part is we put ourselves in the hole. We’re playing catch up now, but we’re still putting ourselves in a good spot because we’re on a decent course. We feel our record should be better and we’re trying to do something about it. In my opinion, it is better late than never. You always want to play your best basketball going into the end of the season anyway. So hopefully get ourselves back on track. Hopefully work our way back to where should be.”

(The following interviews are archived from “Scott Stanchak Exclusives” on ScottStanchak.com)

Lawrence Frank

Scott: “You guys are coming off a big win. How do you keep that momentum going and translate it into a victory tonight?”

Lawrence: “Well, I mean, momentum is a one-on-one game. I think, for us, it’s the consistency of habits, concentration, focus and preparation and execution. Every game, every possession, every quarter, you have to validate yourself as an individual and who you are as a team because the league is one of which there’s a lot of talented players and there’s a great deal of parody. If you’re not ready to play, if you can’t withstand adversity, if you can’t withstand playing through stretches that just aren’t going your way, you lose. So it’s that consistency, that focus and that commitment we have to adhere to on a day-by-day basis.”

Scott: “Knowing this team does a lot of scoring, are you guys going to try and slow down the game?”

Lawrence: “I think there’s a reason why they average 108, because they’re pretty damn good at influencing their will on the game. But I think, at the same time, the challenge for us is we have to develop a color of our own so to speak, our own personality. And one of the things is the game’s going to be one of extremes when we play Golden State. There’s going to be times you’re extremely fast because you want to take advantage of a lot of fast-break situations. But then the difference, where they always want to play like this, those are times we have to be extremely patient. That takes discipline. The other thing we’re going to have to do is take care of the ball. A lot of their fast break points is their ability to turn the ball over. We’ve struggled taking care of the ball, so if we’re giving them extra possessions beyond what they’re doing, it makes it really really hard to beat them.”

Antoine Wright

Scott: “Getting injured while your team is trying to put together a win streak has to be hard. What is your role going to be now?”

Antoine: “I have to stay in tune with every thing that’s going on. Our last game we made some adjustments later on that helped us win the game. I have to stay in tune with what coach is changing around to get us the wins and also have to do whatever I can to get better as quickly as possible.”

Sean Williams

Sean: “(Laughs) I don’t know, we haven’t had too many back-to-back wins and things like that. I guess just still learning team chemistry and who we want to be as a team. That’s what we’re searching for. That’s how we keep it going, by finding yourself in the game.”

Scott: “You’re going to be a crucial part of the game tonight because you’re facing off against a team that puts up a lot of shots. What’s your mindset going into tonight’s contest?”

Sean: “Man, personally I don’t take any different mindset to any of the games. I just try and come out and find the opportunities that present themselves on the court to take advantage of it.”

Jason Kidd

Scott: “Talk about the all-around offensive contribution. You guys knew you had to put up a lot of points, this team scores a lot, and you did that all around tonight.

Jason: “Well, I think the biggest thing is we tried to control the tempo and we knew we didn’t want to get in a shootout. They’ve got so many talented guys who could go big and get going, so we just tried to make it tough and make them work on the other end. We did that, but they’re a very talented team and they kept coming and eventually took the lead, but we didn’t panic, we got stops when we had to.”

Richard Jefferson

Scott: “Talk about the all-around contribution from everyone tonight. You knew you had to post a lot of points up against this team and did that.”

Richard: “We had a lot of contributions from different people, but we didn’t score that many points. We cracked a hundred at the end with some free throws, but with a team like this, I think they key was to get off to a good start and play the way you want to play. You slow it down; you don’t have to match them point for point when they start hitting threes. That was the biggest key for us tonight was just getting off to that good start.”

Josh Boone

Scott: “You going to have some good things to talk about over the holidays?”

Josh: “(Laughs) Oh yea, definitely, definitely. Man, it’s always nice when you get a win like that. That’s a very good Golden State team; they’ve been playing extremely well. You just want to find a way to play defense and defense is what was going to win this game. Even though we had 22 turnovers, we still played solid defense and kept them in check on fast breaks.

Vince Carter

Scott: “Give us your perspective of your shot that put you ahead for good?”

Vince: “I missed a few shots and had some turnovers out there, but I just wanted to be ready to shoot to get the ball and take the shot and make it. Just like last game was mine, I told R.J. (Richard Jefferson), do what he has to do, I’ll be there to knock it down. That’s how confident I felt with my shot and it happened just like I played it out in my head.”

(The following interviews are archived from “Scott Stanchak Exclusives” on ScottStanchak.com)