ESPN

Will he stay?

... Or will he go to Dallas?

That’s what ESPN Dallas.com’s Jeff Caplan and Tim MacMahon argue in their latest Hot Button.

MacMahon argues Deron Williams should sign with his hometown Mavericks because 1. New York taxes are absurd (8.97 percent!) and Texas has no income tax, so $28 million (five years, $109 million for re-signing in Brooklyn compared to four years, $81 million with everyone else based on the CBA) isn’t really $28 million; 2. The Cuban/Nelson management tandem is better than the Prokhorov/King tandem; and 3. The Mavs have Dirk and the Nets don’t.

Caplan counters with the money difference and also the fact that D-Will has the opportunity to be a part of something special in Brooklyn. The Nets potentially could have a pretty talented roster -- assuming everyone signs back, they add a couple pieces and get healthy -- and the Mavs will have to maneuver a lot to add complimentary pieces around Dirk and Deron.

My take: It really could go either way. Both arguments are compelling. Williams never wanted to be traded to the Nets. He didn’t have a say. Now, he’s exercising his right to opt out, become a free agent and test the market.

Williams has said he likes the idea of starting something in Brooklyn: playing in the No. 1 media market in the world and all the endorsement opportunities he’s gotten as a result of being there is certainly appealing.

The Nets very well could’ve been -- and probably would’ve been -- a playoff team if they hadn’t been decimated. But their roster is still in flux. After all, 11 of their 15 players have the potential to be FAs. Still, the Mavs aren’t really in that much better shape.

Nevertheless, if he were to go home, how could you blame him?

The Nets are pretty much in a D-Will or bust scenario. The All-Star point guard has an important decision to make.

And it appears he can’t go wrong either way.

For 86 years, the Red Sox had “The Curse of the Bambino.”

Since 1945, the Cubs have been -- as the legend goes -- cursed by a Billy Goat.

On July 1, 2010, the Nets put up a billboard that said “The Blueprint for Greatness,” featuring owners Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z.

It’s only been two years -- so it’s far from curse-worthy -- but nothing has gone their way ever since.

In the summer of 2010, the Nets were favored to win the lottery and get the No. 1 pick. They lost and got the No. 3 pick.

That same summer, the Nets tried to sign coveted free-agents LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer. They ended up with Travis Outlaw, Anthony Morrow and Johan Petro.

During the season, the Nets tried and tried again to execute a blockbuster trade for Carmelo Anthony. But Melo wanted no part of New Jersey. So he was dealt to the Knicks, and GM Billy King countered by landing Deron Williams out of nowhere.

The Nets finally had their superstar -- with one huge caveat. Williams could opt out of his contract after the 2011-12 season and become a free agent. King knew this, so, following a 24-58 finish to the 2010-11 campaign, he decided to try and reel in a big man to pair with D-Will.

It didn’t work out. Top target Tyson Chandler went to the Knicks, and Nene elected to re-sign with the Nuggets, leaving New Jersey with a team short on talent once again.

Williams announced his intentions to opt out before the 2011-12 season started, and it only got worse from there.

The Nets failed to jell in training camp. And since then, they’ve been decimated by injuries. Brook Lopez, Damion James, Keith Bogans (waived), Jordan Farmar, Mehmet Okur (since traded) and Shawne Williams (since traded) were all lost to season-ending injuries, leaving D-Will without much help.

Coming into Monday night’s home-finale, the Nets had lost 238 manpower games due to injury, illness or personal reasons, an average of 3.7 players per game, and started 24 different lineups. They went just 9-24 at home this season, and struggled on defense and in first quarters. Several D-Leaguers have been called up. Only Gerald Green has been a pleasant surprise.

They thought they were going to land Dwight Howard, but it became one big “Dwightmare,” and D-12 opted to stay in Orlando because of “loyalty.”

King got Gerald Wallace from Portland -- a great all-around hustle player -- but had to sacrifice the team’s top-3 protected 2012 first-round draft pick to do so. The move was highly criticized, viewed as a risk for a franchise that has taken many and gotten burned just as many times. Now, the Nets (22-43) are tied for the sixth-worst record, meaning they only have a 6.3 percent chance of winning the lottery and getting the No. 1 overall pick.

After 35 years in New Jersey, the Nets are moving to Brooklyn and the $1 billion Barclays Center in 2012-13. Their slogan has been “Jersey Strong. Brooklyn Ready.”

Right now, the only guarantees for the franchise are a new building and that MarShon Brooks, Anthony Morrow, Johan Petro and Jordan Williams are under contract.

Otherwise, the only certainty is a lot of uncertainty. Eleven of the 15 players on the Nets’ roster are eligible to be free agents in some capacity. Coach Avery Johnson mentioned several -- D-Will, Wallace, Kris Humphries, Lopez and Green -- by name when asked why New Jersey fans should follow the team to Brooklyn, but who knows if they will.

“After the season, guys are going to sit down with their families and decide what’s best for them realistically,” Brooks said after the Nets wrapped up their 35-year tenure in the Garden State with a 105-87 loss to the Sixers. “It’s a business. Whatever team we go to Brooklyn with, we’re going to have to be ready to play.”

The borough of Brooklyn hasn’t had a professional sports franchise since 1957, so there’s going to be a buzz around the Nets. But for how long?

A new building and new uniforms are all well and good, but the Nets must be competitive. And to be competitive, they have to re-sign Williams. He has said he intends to stay -- assuming the Nets put the right pieces around him. They haven’t yet. And even if they do, everything else has to fall into place.

If recent history is any indication, it won’t happen. In 3 1/2 decades, the New Jersey Nets went 1,186-1,635 (.420). And aside from the Jason Kidd era, they didn’t win anything.

Now, they’ll turn the page. Maybe, to avoid a future curse, they should’ve changed their name, too.

In the summer of 2010, the Nets were hopeful that LeBron James would be the bridge to Brooklyn.

Nearly two years later, James drew a massive crowd to one of the franchise's final home games in New Jersey.

Too bad he was playing for the other team.

In front of a pro-Heat contingent that chanted "MVP!" and "Let's Go Heat" all evening long, James stole the show -- and gave all 18,711 in attendance a heroic late-game performance they won't soon forget.

James scored the Heat's final 17 points and went on an 11-0 run in the closing minutes as Miami rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to topple the Nets for the 10th straight time, 101-98, on Monday night at Prudential Center.

"It was amazing, honestly," James said after scoring a game-high 37 points, dishing out seven assists and grabbing six rebounds. He also shot 11-for-19 from the field and 14-for-15 from the free-throw stripe.

"I give a lot of thanks to all the Heat fans that we have -- and all the Nets fans that rooted for us as well," James added. "Like I said at one point last year, I never thought I would hear 'Let’s Go Heat' on someone else's floor, so I'm happy to be a part of it, and thanks to the fans, it was great."

This won't happen once the Nets move to Brooklyn next season, right?

Those fans aren't going to cheer for so-called "villains," are they?

"I'm surprised. Where were those fans earlier when we were up?" wondered Nets power forward Kris Humphries, who scored a team-high 29 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

"They should've been screaming the whole game. Don't just show up when they get on top. That surprised me. If you're a Heat fan you should be screaming the whole game for them, even when they're down."

Some of the star-studded faces in the crowd included Jay-Z and Beyonce, Victor Cruz, Justin Tuck, Antrel Rolle, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Bart Scott, Antonio Cromartie, John Conner and Thierry Henry.

And they were all lucky enough to have courtside seats to the LeBron Show.

"As good as I remember," small forward Gerald Green said. "As good as a video game."

The Nets (22-40), sans All-Star point guard Deron Williams (sore right calf), lost their 13-point edge midway through the fourth quarter. But instead of folding, they countered.

Working out of a baseline isolation set, Humphries hit a turnaround fadeaway jumper from 13 feet to give his team a 95-88 lead with 2:28 left.

At that point, it was over. Well, it should've been.

Humphries split a pair of free throws with 2:06 remaining to make it 96-90. That's when James finally decided he’d had enough -- and put the Heat on his back.

First, he drove the lane and converted a three-point play at the 1:51 mark: 96-93.

Next, he went left to right and got a layup to go 25 seconds later: 96-95.

After that, James bodied up Humphries and finished with his left hand with 51 ticks left: 97-96.

It was the Heat's first lead of the game. It was the only one they needed.

An 8-footer made it 99-96. Two free throws made it 101-96.

The Nets still haven't beaten the Heat since March 20, 2009.

"I am at a loss for words," Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "I don't know what to say.

"But I am so proud of our team. This is probably as proud as I have been of them all year."

If only D-Will was available in crunch time. The Nets missed three shots and had a turnover during James' decisive run.

"I wish he could've put on a uniform in the last two minutes of the game and come out and will us to win," Johnson said of Williams.

The Nets have just two home games left in the Garden State. Then it's on to Brooklyn they go.

They were hoping James would lead them there. But he took his talents to South Beach instead.

So the Nets are relegated to trying to convince Williams to be their bridge. They're building a beautiful $1 billion arena -- Barclays Center -- in a borough starving for the return of a professional sports franchise.

But without a superstar to win games and sell tickets, the excitement isn't going to last.

"It's not just about the building or the city we're going to, we gotta put a really good product on the floor," Johnson said.

James captivated their crowd on Saturday night -- the way they hope Williams will next season.

Charles Barkley says he’s a conspiracy theorist, and would be “leery” if the New Jersey/soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets end up winning the lottery and drafting Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis No. 1 overall.

“You know, I’m going to be very leery because I know the NBA has a lot riding on that new arena [$1 billion Barclays Center], especially if Deron Williams leaves New Jersey,” Barkley told ESPN Chicago 1000’s “Waddle and Silvy” on Wednesday.

“They didn’t get Dwight Howard. I’m going to be very leery if New Jersey gets the No. 1 pick.”

Barkley says his days of being a conspiracy theorist go back to Patrick Ewing.

The Georgetown center was selected No. 1 overall by the New York Knicks after they won the NBA’s first-ever draft lottery in 1985.

Some believe that draft was rigged so the New York market could get itself a superstar.

Now, nearly three decades later, the Nets will be moving to Brooklyn prior to the start of the 2012-13 season. They’re currently the seventh-worst team in the league, and, if the season ended Thursday, would only have a 4.3 percent chance to land the No. 1 pick.

The Nets traded their 2012 first-round pick to Portland for forward Gerald Wallace, but put a top-3 protection on it.

Fresh off a National Championship with the Wildcats, Davis, the Naismith College Player of the Year, is considered to be the best player in the draft.

Williams is expected to opt out and become a free agent. The Nets can offer him more money than any other team, but the Dallas Mavericks are also expected to pursue the All-Star point guard in the summer.

The Nets are confident they can sign Williams, but if he leaves them for nothing, they’d be in a world of hurt heading into Brooklyn.

On the other hand, landing Davis to go along with restricted free agent center Brook Lopez, Wallace (if he opts in) and rookie MarShon Brooks, would certainly help the Nets in their quest to convince Williams to stay.

Mikhail Prokhorov may be able to “crush” Mark Cuban in kickboxing, but when it comes to owning an NBA franchise, Cuban already has what Prokhorov covets: an NBA championship.

And this coming offseason, the Mavericks owner is likely going to try to convince Prokhorov’s superstar player, Deron Williams, to leave New Jersey/soon-to-be Brooklyn in favor of the city he grew up near: Dallas.

Prokhorov can joke all he wants -- “let the best man win” and so forth -- but deep down, if Williams bolts and becomes a Maverick, it’ll feel like Cuban kicked him in the face.

Yes, he has a $1 billion arena in the biggest market in the world. But how is he going to sell tickets if his team can't contend? Maybe the allure of the borough’s first sports franchise since the Dodgers will work for a season or two, but what about a third season? How long can that really last?

While Prokhorov has been off trying -- and failing, despite his best efforts -- to become president of his native Russia, the Nets have been floundering in their final season in New Jersey. They’ve been decimated by injuries, derailed by slow starts and disappointed at home, and are on their way to missing the playoffs for a fifth straight season.

After taking over as owner prior to the start of the 2010-11 campaign, Prokhorov promised a championship within five seasons. He didn’t exactly back down from that on Tuesday. At the same time, he preached “patience,” something that fans in the New York City area don’t want to hear.

Williams certainly doesn’t. He has been a winner throughout his playing career -- all the way from high school to the pros.

He doesn’t do losing. Williams has put up with it because he was traded to a team in transition -- something that was beyond his control -- but he isn’t going to put up with it anymore, not when he’s entering his prime.

Williams wants to win, and for the first time his career, he gets to choose where he plays.

Prokhorov said he met with Williams on Monday and added that both of them are “on the same page.”

Great. So what?

Does that mean Prokhorov is convinced he can get Williams to sign on the dotted line of a five-year, $109 million max extension this summer? Or is Cuban really going to be able to pull off a robbery and leave the Nets without a superstar going into Brooklyn?

Prokhorov can say he’s committed to bringing a championship to Brooklyn. But how can he go all-in to fulfill that goal when he’s pursuing other ventures and still has political aspirations?

Wouldn’t it be nice if he were fully invested in the Nets, much the same way Cuban is fully invested in the Mavericks?

Prokhorov may be rich and powerful, and have a good sense of humor too, but it’s time for him to figure out what he wants his basketball legacy to be.

All he has done so far is help pay for the construction of the Barclays Center. Now it’s time to put a competitive team on the court to play in it.

GM Billy King acted swiftly in trading for Williams and has made some other nice moves, such as acquiring MarShon Brooks on draft day, plucking Gerald Green out of the D-League and risking losing a lottery pick in order to land Gerald Wallace, but the Nets remain -- just like their new Brooklyn arena -- a far-from-finished product.

They couldn’t lure Dwight Howard out of Orlando -- not that the “Dwightmare” is over or anything -- and are going to turn their attention toward trying to round out their starting five by landing the likes of free-agent power forwards Kevin Garnett, Ryan Anderson or Ersan Ilyasova in the offseason. That’s all contingent on keeping Williams, of course.

King, coach Avery Johnson & Co. can’t make that happen alone. They need Prokhorov to be fully invested in his franchise.

Nets point guard Deron Williams will miss Wednesday night’s game in Portland due to a stomach virus, the team announced via Twitter.

Sundiata Gaines will start in his place.

Williams is averaging team highs of 21.6 points and 8.6 assists per game for the Nets (19-36), who have won three of their last four games.

This will be the sixth game the All-Star has missed this season. He missed four in March with a strained right calf and one in January due to a sore right side.

Kobe Bryant laughed.

How else could he react after hitting that shot?

The Nets defended the inbounds before that shot about as well as you can defend an inbounds.

Didn’t matter.

With the Lakers about to get called for a five-second violation, Bryant flared out five feet behind the 3-point arc unguarded at the top of the key. Just 2.3 seconds remained on the shot clock.

So Bryant caught the pass and quickly let one fly.

The ball hit the back rim, then hit the front rim, bounced, hit the front rim and hit the back rim -- twice.

According to The Heat Index’s Brian Windhorst, the whole process took about 1.9 seconds.

Bryant took the shot with 10.1 seconds left. Somehow, someway -- after making its first carom off the rim at 8.7 seconds -- the ball finally fell through the netting with 6.8 seconds remaining.

Lakers 91, Nets 87.

That’s how it ended. The most agonizing of bounces going the other way.

The Nets’ three-game winning streak is over. The fact they came back from a 17-point deficit to put themselves in a position to get a win over the Lakers in Los Angeles? Impressive nonetheless.

Coach Avery Johnson said his team was going to play out the season trying to win every game the rest of the way. On Tuesday night, they almost did.

An 18-6 Nets’ run -- capped by a cold-blooded deep 3-pointer from Deron Williams with 1:29 left -- erased an 80-68 Lakers’ lead in the fourth quarter.

Bryant hit a pull-up jumper from the left wing over Williams’ outstretched arm 10 seconds later to make it 88-86 Los Angeles.

Gerald Wallace, the Nets’ heart and soul these days, got fouled on the other end, but split a pair of free throws.

Ramon Sessions missed a 3 on the ensuing Lakers’ possession, but Pau Gasol grabbed the offensive rebound. That’s when the Nets turned up their defensive intensity, forcing the Lakers to inbound the ball under their basket with less than three seconds remaining on the shot clock and 10.8 seconds left on the gameclock.

That’s when one of the greatest players to ever play the game got a little lucky.

Talk about a lethal combination.

In the end, the Nets (19-36, 12-17 road) can take solace in the fact that they appear to be coming together as a team. In the short term, Wallace has provided everything they’ve been missing: defense, versatility, hustle and leadership.

Unfortunately, it’s come too late.

The Nets have been decimated by injuries. They’ve been woeful at home. And pre-Wallace, they were on pace -- by one advanced metric -- to be the worst defensive team in 20 years.

The Nets had their chance to make a playoff push. They failed. Losses to New Orleans, Cleveland and Washington put them in the predicament they’re in right now: playing out a lost season with an uncertain future starring them in the face.

Williams, the most-coveted-prize-on-the-free-agent-market-to-be, who had 10 of his 20 points in the fourth, gave ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande basically the same answers he gave Yahoo! Sports a day earlier before the game. The same answers he’s basically been giving since he announced his intentions to opt out and become a free agent before the lockout-shortened season began.

He’s not ruling out the Nets. Brooklyn is enticing. He loves living in New York.

At the same time, Williams is going to keep his options open. And why shouldn’t he?

For the first time in his career, he holds all the cards, has all the control.

The Nets knew this when they pulled off the blockbuster trade to get him.

But they took a risk, a risk the Knicks would’ve been willing to take had they know Williams was available the deadline last season.

Hard to blame them. This is, after all, a superstar’s league. And the only way to get one is either getting lucky in the draft lottery, signing one via free agency or making a deal.

The caveat was that Williams wasn’t locked up. The Nets have done everything in their power to ink Williams to a max extension. They’ve treated him like a King, allowing him to have a say in who he plays with.

They wanted to pair him with Brook Lopez, but Lopez has been plagued by injuries and has only played five games in 2011-12.

They wanted to pair him with Dwight Howard and thought they had a deal done, but Howard changed his mind 8,000 times in the course of two days and ultimately ended up staying in Orlando.

Wallace has been far-and-away the best player Williams has played with during his time in New Jersey -- and he came at the expense of a top-3 protected first-rounder.

And now, now that they’ve finally got some sort of positive momentum building and are starting to come together as a cohesive unit, it may be too late.

All the Nets have asked for is a break or a bounce to go their way.

But that hasn’t happened all season -- so it certainly wasn’t going to happen on Tuesday night.

Will he stay? Will he go?

Who knows.

But it sounds as though Deron Williams is looking forward to being a free agent and finally having the chance to chose where he wants to play next season -- sort of.

“People get traded all the time,” Williams told Yahoo! Sports on Monday. “They don’t get backlash as an organization. If [players] leave, we are not loyal, we are ungrateful. People say stuff to me on Twitter. They already think I’m gone. They are out there bashing me, saying to me I’m a traitor.

“I didn’t ask to be here. I got traded. I didn’t come here being a free agent. This is the first time that I’m a free agent in my career.”

The Nets are hopeful Williams stays. They are moving to Brooklyn and a $1 billion arena next season. They can give the All-Star point guard more money than any other team. Williams has a great relationship with upper management and has joked that he’s the “assistant to the assistant GM.” He loves living in New York, and all the marketing opportunities he’s been afforded as a result of being here.

And yet, they say home is where the heart is, and that makes Dallas an extremely appealing fit. Williams could play with Dirk Nowitzki. At the same time, the Mavericks would still have to put a solid supporting cast around them. At 27 and entering the prime of his career, as Williams reiterated to Yahoo! Sports, all he cares about is winning.

Basically, it is what it is. Williams is going to opt out, and then the Nets, Mavericks and any other suitors are going to make their sales pitches.

The Nets’ pitch certainly would’ve been a lot easier to make if they had Dwight Howard on the roster. But Howard was “loyal” (we use the term very loosely, of course), and decided to stick with Orlando -- at least through next season, anyway.

Williams told Yahoo! Sports he “probably” would’ve re-signed with the Nets had they been able to reel in Howard.

Oh well.

“It’s a decision he made for himself,” Williams said. “I really have no comment on it. He did what was best for him. I respect that. I’m still friends with him.

“Oh yeah, it definitely would have changed things. I’ve already made it known that if he would have come I probably would have stayed.”

Just like the Nets “probably” would’ve been a playoff team if not for the litany of injuries that has decimated their roster all season and led to zero continuity and a lot of losses.

But they aren’t. Gerald “Crash” Wallace has been a great addition, and the hope is his all-out intensity and will to win on each and every possession will rub off on his younger teammates.

At the same time, wins over the Pacers, Warriors and Kings have hurt the Nets’ chances of retaining the top-3 protected first-rounder they dealt to get Wallace.

Nevertheless, coach Avery Johnson told reporters on a conference call that the Nets plan on playing to win the rest of the way. In other words, no tanking here.

Twelves games remain on the schedule. The Nets’ time in New Jersey is coming to a close.

Brooklyn awaits.

The Nets hope that they open the Barclays Center with a starting lineup that includes D-Will (maxed out for five years and $109 million, of course), MarShon Brooks (going into his sophomore year), Wallace (who opts in at $9.5 million), a free-agent power forward (sources have told ESPNNewYork.com and other outlets that the Nets plan to pursue Kevin Garnett, Ryan Anderson or Ersan Ilyasova) and Brook Lopez (healthy and locked up off of restricted free agency), and a bench that features Anthony Morrow, Gerald Green (the other pleasant out-of-nowhere surprise in the NYC area this season) and the Rockets’ first-rounder. Oh, and there’s always a tiny chance the Nets could win the lottery (Anthony Davis, anyone?)

But none of that is set in stone. Far from it.

GM Billy King says he has a Plan B and C in case Plan A doesn’t work out. Coming off what will be their fifth straight season missing the playoffs, Nets fans starving for wins can only hope he doesn’t need them.

Their superstar? Ejected. Their coach? Ejected.

Their losing streak? Four.

Their playoff hopes? Ha! Good one.

Deron Williams and Avery Johnson were kicked out of Wednesday night’s 108-89 loss to the Wizards during the third quarter.

They were the lucky ones. Everyone else had to gut it out.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, chants of "Jay-Z! Jay-Z!" and the standard boos resonated from a clearly frustrated crowd of 10,097 at Prudential Center.

"Well, again, we're disappointed, but we're not an elite team yet, OK?" Johnson said after his team plummeted to 15-33, the fourth-worst record in the NBA.

"We don't have much margin for error. So we can't say, 'Well, we played against New Orleans, Charlotte or Washington, you guys should come out there and beat those teams by 20 points.' That’s not [possible]. We gotta play great basketball. We don't have much margin for error."

Johnson normally tries to look on the bright side of things. But even he had trouble putting on his rose-colored glasses after this particular debacle, a debacle in which the Nets gave up 14 offensive rebounds and made 16 of their 38 field goals inside the paint.

"[The effort] could've been better. It could've been better," Johnson said. "And you know I'm always one that tries to be really, really positive, at times with our team, but it could've been better."

Before his second ejection as a Net -- and first since Feb. 2, 2011, against Philadelphia -- Johnson was already upset that the officials missed a pair of eight-second violations that were clear as day. So it was only a matter of time before he blew a gasket.

With 5:23 left in the third period and the Nets trailing 70-64, Williams drove inside, hoisted up a shot and thought he was fouled, but no call was made. John Wall hit a 19-footer on the other end to put Washington up by eight.

The Nets called timeout at the 5:18 mark, and Williams was talking with referee Josh Tiven. It didn't appear to be a heated conversation, but things quickly escalated. Tiven hit Williams with one T, then another, and just like that the 27-year-old All-Star had been tossed for the second time in his career -- both coming this season.

Jordan Crawford connected on the ensuing free throws before Johnson got the gate for giving Tiven an earful. Crawford hit those two freebees as well. Just like that, it was 76-64, and the Nets never recovered.

"It was just a difference of opinion," Johnson said. "We'll leave it at that."

Williams wasn't in the locker room to explain what happened. He now has three technicals in his last two games, and hasn’t addressed the media in either of them.

"You know those guys, they care," Kris Humphries said. "Coach cares, Deron cares, so you get frustrated and it happens from time to time."

Newcomer Gerald Wallace wasn't particularly happy with how the game was officiated.

"Washington got the benefit of the doubt on everything," he said, without getting into specifics because he didn't want to be fined. "You guys watched the game. I'm not saying we're the Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs or somebody, but we played just as hard as the Wizards played and it just felt like they were just more favored than us."

Before the game, Williams said the last 19 games wouldn't have any effect on his decision to stay with the Nets or leave at the end of the season. Phew.

Consider: During the team's four-game skid, it has blown a 12-point fourth-quarter lead to the 10-34 Hornets; failed to finish down the stretch against the 16-26 Cavaliers; and been massacred by the 10-34 Wizards -- all at home.

The Nets, who have lost six of their last seven, are 5-18 at home, by the way. And they can’t use not having Brook Lopez as an excuse. New Orleans, Cleveland and Washington are bad. Just not as bad as the Nets have been, though.

“You know, we’re just not clicking. It’s just tough basketball right now,” Humphries said. “We've just gotta stay after it, it's been tough. You feel like you're beating yourself at times and it's not fun to play like that.”

Are the Nets trying to tank so they can get their top-3 protected first-rounder back? Or are they just this bad? Either way, it isn’t pretty.

Remember when the Nets were on the verge of getting Dwight Howard and the Knicks were stinking up the joint? Those were the days, huh?

Recap | Box score | Photos

WHAT IT MEANS: The Nets lost their fourth straight game on Wednesday night -- but Deron Williams and Avery Johnson weren't around long enough to see the end. The point guard and coach were ejected during the third quarter of the Nets' 108-89 setback to the Wizards at Prudential Center. Wonder what Jay-Z thought. He was sitting next to the bench, after all. And the crowd chanted his name once the game was far out of reach.

The Nets are now 15-33 overall and 5-18 at home. Williams had all 17 of his points in the first half for the Nets. He added four assists and three rebounds, and shot 6-for-15 from the field. The Nets trailed by as many as 19, shot 36.9 percent from the floor and scored 36 points in the second half.

TURNING POINT: A 12-0 third-quarter run -- which included the ejections of both Williams and Johnson after Williams was upset about not getting a foul call on a drive to the basket -- gave the Wizards a commanding 78-64 lead.

HUMP DAY: Kris Humphries finished with his 21st double-double of the season, scoring 13 points while grabbing 16 rebounds.

G-EEZ: In his third game as a Net, Gerald Wallace scored 13 points and grabbed three rebounds, but opened up missing six of his first seven shots from the field and wound up connecting on just five of his 17 attempts.

NICE DEBUT: Nene, who was coveted by the Nets in free agent but ended up re-signing with the Nuggets before being traded to Washington at the deadline, had 22 points and 10 rebounds in his debut with the Wizards.

BOLD PLAY OF THE GAME: D-Will split a pick-and-roll, faked a behind-the-back pass and finished a layup to tie the game at 48 in the second quarter.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: MarShon Brooks shot 2-for-9 from the field on Wednesday night. In his last six games, the rookie shooting guard is 17-for-58 from the field.

UP NEXT: Nets at Hawks, Friday night

NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams and coach Avery Johnson were both ejected in the third quarter of Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Wizards.

It is unclear why, but it appeared that Williams was upset after not getting a foul call on a drive to the basket in the period. He began yapping with the officials with 5:18 left. He picked up one technical, walked back to the bench, turned around and picked up another. Johnson became engaged after that, and was also shown the gate.

The Nets (15-32) were trailing 72-64 at the time of Williams’ ejection. Jordan Crawford hit the ensuing free throws to push the Wizards’ lead to 10, and Johnson got thrown out after that.

It’s Williams’ second career ejection -- both have come this season. For Johnson, it’s his second ejection since he became coach of the Nets. His other one came on Feb. 2, 2011 against Philadelphia

Will anything that happens the rest of the season affect Deron Williams' decision to stay or go?

"Not really," the Nets' point guard replied Wednesday morning.

Has the likely free-agent-to-be made up his mind already?

Maybe. Maybe not.

What factors into his decision?

He says he loves living in New York, has praised his relationship with Nets' brass and raves about the marketing opportunities he has been afforded. Plus, he can opt out and re-sign for five years, $109 million -- approximately a year and $28 million more than any other team can offer under the new CBA.

But he cares about winning, and the Nets haven't won since he was traded there. With Williams in the lineup, they've won 18 and lost 36.

Still, if everything falls into the place, they could be contenders going into Brooklyn. But if it doesn't, they'll basically be an expansion team.

The Mavericks -- at least at this point, the Nets' top competition for Williams' services -- are just a season removed from winning the NBA championship. But Dirk Nowitzki isn't getting any younger. Still, Dallas also has a billionaire owner who hates losing and has deep pockets. Plus, Williams grew up there, so that adds to the appeal of playing for the Mavs.

Either way -- if he chooses one of those two teams -- Williams will be playing in a state-of-the-art arena. He'll also be richer. Seems like he can't lose. The Nets, however, can -- big.

Dream scenario: D-Will re-ups, Gerald Wallace opts in, they win the lottery and draft Anthony Davis. The Rockets make the playoffs as an eight seed out West and the Nets get an additional mid-first, too. Plus they can take a run at D-12 again next season.

Doomsday scenario: D-Will and Wallace both bolt, they end up with the No. 4 pick, which goes to Portland, and the Rockets miss the playoffs. Boom. Expansioned.

But back to Wednesday ...

Williams was asked if he can foresee the Nets overtaking the Knicks as the No. 1 team in New York City.

"Not anytime soon," he responded. "I mean, there's just so many Knicks fans, you know? It would take a while for all the kids to grow up being Nets fans; the young kids right now, or even the ones that aren't even born yet. Most people are Knicks fans, so I think it'd be a while. [But] if we win a championship, there's no telling what could happen."

Williams was at a Metro PCS event in Brooklyn on Tuesday, signing autographs for fans.

"I got grilled by a lot of Brooklynites, telling me I had to stay there or they're coming after me," Williams joked.

As for the team's remaining 11 games in New Jersey, Williams replied, "We'd like to go out with a bang. What's the team been here, 35 years? So I know it's special to a lot of longtime Nets fans, and hopefully we can finish up strong."

Getting a win over the Wizards on Wednesday night would be a start.

• Backup point guard Jordan Farmar (sore right groin) is "probably out," coach Avery Johnson said. Farmar has missed the last three games with the injury. It means D-League 10-day guy Jerry Smith will get more playing time.

Nets point guard Deron Williams did not want to say anything he'd end up regretting -- or getting fined for. That's why he skipped out on reporters for the first time all season following his team's 105-100 loss to the Cavaliers on Monday night.

“I wanted to keep my money, so I thought it was better to leave than talk with a hot head,” Williams told reporters Tuesday.

Williams was frustrated that his team failed to finish late in the fourth quarter. In the final minute, he missed a layup and had a crucial turnover. Williams thought Kris Humphries was going to roll to the basket for a layup that would've brought the Nets within one with 13.9 seconds left, but Humphries thought Williams was going to shoot a 3-pointer to try and tie things up, and the ball rolled out-of-bounds.

The miscommunication contributed to the team's third straight loss. The Nets are now 5-17 at home, 15-32 overall and on their way to missing the playoffs again. They haven’t qualified for the postseason since 2006-07.

Williams is likely to miss out on the playoffs for a second straight season since being dealt to the Nets in February of 2011. He had made the postseason four consecutive times with Utah prior to the trade.

“I’m not here to call anybody out,” said Williams, who scored a game-high 28 points and dished out eight assists on Monday night, but shot 8-for-23 and committed five turnovers. “We’re all men. I make mistakes. I made mistakes [Monday night]. There’s nobody to ‘call out.’”

Even though all the losses and injuries have continued to mount, Williams has always been a stand-up guy, willing to answer almost every question from the media this season. But this one, it seemed, was tougher to take than all the others.

“It was frustrating. It was definitely frustrating,” Williams said. “The last two really, having leads [the Nets led by 12 in the fourth quarter on Saturday night and by six early in the final period on Monday night] and then just not getting it done.”

After cooling down, Williams said he’s basically over it.

“It’s all good. It’s already done. It’s a game. Bad games happen. Bad quarters, they happen,” Williams said. “We came in and worked hard [Tuesday]. Coach [Avery] Johnson probably works harder than anybody -- he was really animated, really excited about practice [Tuesday].”

The last two instances certainly aren’t the only times the Nets have let one slip away that they could’ve won.

“We’ve been making the same mistakes all year. We’ve talked about it every day, it seems like it just doesn’t register,” Williams said. “At some point, you hope it would, you know?”

Is it hard to stay positive?

“No, because our motto is ‘We love it.’ So we’ve got to love everything about it,” Williams said.

The 27-year-old All-Star is averaging team-highs of 22.1 points and 8.1 assists for the Nets this season.

He has been stellar in wins (26.9 ppg, 9.1 apg, 44.9 fg pct), but less than stellar in losses (19.8 ppg, 7.6 apg, 39.2 fg pct). Williams has also struggled at home, shooting 40.4 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from 3-point range, compared to 42 percent and 39 percent from downtown on the road.

He was told to change his body language earlier this season, and has tried to adjust, but Williams has always said he hates losing more than anything.

It’s why there has been so much speculation on his future with the Nets. Williams can get more money if he opts out and re-signs with the Nets when they head to Brooklyn -- five years, $109 million compared to four years, $81 million -- but yearns to play for a contender.

The Nets went all-in on their pursuit of Dwight Howard, but came up empty -- for now. As a result, they made what many perceived to be a desperation move at the deadline by trading a top-3 protected 2012 first round pick for Gerald Wallace.

Even though the Nets are moving into $1 billion Barclays Center, the franchise appears to be at a crossroads.

If all goes well, the Nets could have D-Will, Wallace and two first-round picks. But if it doesn’t, they could end up with none of that.

Good luck trying to sell tickets if that’s the case.

Once again, the Nets didn't finish.

But this time, their superstar wasn’t around to explain why.

All-Star point guard Deron Williams left the Prudential Center without talking to reporters after the Nets folded in the final minute of their third straight loss, a 105-100 defeat to the Cavaliers, which dropped them even further out of the playoff race.

Despite being frustrated as the injuries and losses have continued to mount, Williams has always been a standup guy in the locker room, ready and willing to answer most questions from the media -- even if he hasn't felt like it. But on Monday night, his actions spoke louder than words.

"Nobody wants to lose, especially the way we lost," newcomer Gerald Wallace said.

The Nets held an 88-82 lead with 7:11 left in the fourth quarter, but let it slip away.

With the game tied at 97, Kris Humphries committed a turnover, and Tristan Thompson's tip-in with 1:11 remaining gave the Cavaliers a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Wallace and Williams missed layups in the last 60 seconds, and D-Will and Humphries failed to communicate on a pass that would've brought the Nets within 103-102 with 13.9 ticks left.

Williams, who passed up a 3-pointer that could've tied the game, thought Humphries was going to roll to the basket for an open layup. He didn't, figuring his point guard would take the shot, and the ball went out of bounds for a turnover -- one of four committed by the Nets in the final period. Kyrie Irving was fouled, hit two free throws on the other end and that was it.

"We were down by three. We needed a three. Obviously, I should have rolled regardless," Humphries said. "I thought he was going to put it up. I'll take responsibility for that. We were out of timeouts as well. If I [would've] rolled, I would have been wide open so I guess that's on me."

The Nets wound up shooting 8-for-25 from the field in the fourth -- including 1-for-6 in the final 1:51.

"We gave up some awful plays that shouldn't have been given up, and [Deron] had that turnover at the end, where you have one player thinking [of shooting] a 3, and the other thinking about [taking] the quick 2. So that's a situation where everybody's not on the same page," Wallace said.

"We can't make those mistakes at the end of the game. We gotta get better at that."

The Nets (15-32, 5-17 home) have now lost five of their past six games; three of those defeats coming against teams with losing records. So much for that "playoff push" GM Billy King was hoping for when he dealt a top-three protected first-round pick for Wallace.

"It was a game we really wanted, a game we really needed," MarShon Brooks said. "But once again we didn't execute very well down the stretch, and they did."

On Saturday night, the Nets held a 12-point lead going into the fourth vs. New Orleans, but were outscored 32-12 over the final 12 minutes and lost. And on Monday night, they carried that debacle over against the Cavaliers, who outscored them 30-17 in the first quarter.

The Nets fought back behind Williams' 17 second-quarter points to pull within three at the half, but once again, it was another slow start that contributed to a New Jersey loss.

Same old Nets.

By the time it was over, they'd been outscored 66-40 in the paint, given up 21 offensive rebounds and been outrebounded 55-37. Thompson abused the Nets inside for a career-high 27 points and 12 rebounds on 12-for-16 shooting.

"They came out aggressive and we didn't match their aggression," Humphries said. "I think they had like 20 or 21 offensive rebounds. And they just beat us up down there."

Prior to scoring a game-high 28 points and dishing out eight assists on 8-for-23 shooting, Williams expressed his opinion that the Nets would've been a playoff team had they not sustained so many injuries throughout the course of the 2011-12 campaign. They certainly could've used Brook Lopez on Monday night.

Now, 19 games remain. Williams is clearly frustrated. So how do the Nets appease him?

At this point, they can't upgrade their roster. They can't win, either.

Williams may Nets love management, the marketing opportunities he has been afforded and the possibility of a five-year, $109 million contract extension with a team heading into the world's biggest market and a $1 billion arena, but he hates losing.

And clearly it's gotten to him. On the bright side, he clearly cares. There's no doubting that.

The Nets are 6.5 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 20 games remaining. So unless they go on what coach Avery Johnson referred to as a “crazy winning streak” on Monday morning, they aren’t getting in.

For what it’s worth, Deron Williams thinks the Nets would’ve been a playoff team had they not sustained so many injuries throughout the season.

“I think we’ve a playoff team if Brook [Lopez] was healthy, and if other guys had stayed healthy as well,” Williams said. “We’ve had a number of injuries throughout the season. MarShon [Brooks] went down, A-Mo [Anthony Morrow] went down, Jordan [Farmar]’s been banged up all season. He’s been playing through a lot of pain from the last 2-3 weeks, we just haven’t had guys healthy. DeShawn [Stevenson], Shawne Williams. It’s just been a tough year for everybody, I think, to get any type of chemistry, especially in a shortened season where there’s not a lot of practice, guys are coming in and out, we’ve had a lot of D-League callups, it’s just hard to build chemistry.”

No team has suffered more injuries than the Nets this season.

Consider:

• Shelden Williams is the only Net to have appeared in all 46 games.

• Three different small forwards -- Damion James, Shawne Williams (traded) and Keith Bogans (waived) have already been lost for the season.

• The Nets have put out 20 different starting lineups -- more than any other team.

“That’s the frustrating part about this season,” Williams said. “We haven’t had everybody healthy at the same time. It seems like once somebody comes back, another person goes down. It’s been tough for us.”

It all started when Lopez -- the team’s only interior scoring threat -- went down with a broken foot in the second preseason game. And it’s only gotten worse from there.

The Nets have had Lopez in the lineup for just five games. He’s currently out with a sprained right ankle, and the team won’t have an update on his status until Friday.

Williams had made the playoffs from 2006-07 to 2009-10 in Utah. Now, he’s about to be 0-for-2 in New Jersey.

“It’s hard to -- I don’t want to say get up for games because of course you wanna win every time you step on the floor -- but when you’re trying to make the playoffs it’s motivation to play harder and try to climb the standings, so we’ve gotta try to do that even though we know it’s going to be hard to make the playoffs,” Williams said. “It’s a challenge.”

The Nets (15-31, 5-16 home) currently rank last in the NBA in points in the paint, field-goal percent defense and 3-point field-goal percentage defense. Doomed by poor starts, they are 5-23 when trailing at the half.

Williams say he no longer gets caught up “in today.”

“Early on this year I was. It’s the only thing that was making me go crazy. So I’ve just tried to take it game by game and try to win as many games as possible, like I said, and see what happens,” he said.

Williams thinks the Nets will look different next season.

Question is: will he be part of the roster?

Weigh in: What do you think of D-Will’s comments? Let us know in the comments section.