EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It is a dubious distinction that Jamal Crawford has dragged around with him for the past three years, carrying the honor (or, better yet, dishonor) of having played the most career games of any active NBA player without ever having appeared in a playoff game.

That streak is on the brink of extinction, even though Crawford's other streak -- 65 consecutive games coming off the bench -- is likely to carry over into next season.

"I like Jamal where he is right now. I mean, he's doing just fine for us, leading the league in scoring off the bench, and our team has been pretty successful," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said after Crawford's 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting led the Atlanta Hawks past the New Jersey Nets 108-84 on Tuesday night.

"So he won't be in the starting lineup."

If ever there was a night when circumstances called for Woodson to insert Crawford into the starting five, it came Tuesday at the Meadowlands against the NBA's worst team as Joe Johnson (Achilles tendinitis) sat out for the first time this season.

But Woodson chose to insert rookie Jeff Teague into the starting unit and move Mike Bibby over to shooting guard, sticking with the axiom that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Crawford responded by providing his usual fix of offensive explosiveness off the bench, scoring 15 of his points in a brief burst at the end of the second quarter as Atlanta closed the first half with a 19-5 run to take control for good.

Crawford closed the quarter with a 29-foot 3-pointer that he knew would be good from the moment the ball left his hand. The only disappointment for Crawford was that he didn't get to try for his eighth 4-point play of the season, which would have added to his career total of 26 (also tops among active players).

"I told Mike [Bibby] if he gave it to me, I would make it for him. I kind of visualized it before, and they were screaming at [Kris] Humphries to try to take a foul, so I was going to get it off before he got me for a foul," Crawford said.

There are arguments to be made in favor of Anderson Varejao of Cleveland, J.R. Smith of Denver, Lamar Odom of the Lakers and a few others for the NBA's Sixth Man Award, but Crawford's consistent production -- as the added weapon in Atlanta's improved arsenal -- makes him the odds-on favorite to wind up with that trophy.

Crawford (17.6 points per game) leads the league in scoring among players who have not started a game, and his team is now 20 games over .500 and trails the Southeast Division-leading Orlando Magic by only two games in the loss column. (Orlando, however, already owns the tiebreaker with a 3-0 lead in the season series, with the final Hawks-Magic game set for March 24.)

So a No. 2 seed is not entirely out of the question for the Hawks, and Crawford will finally get a chance to step onto the stage that has eluded him through an NBA career that spanned nine losing seasons with dreadful teams in Chicago, New York and Golden State.

If Crawford plays in Atlanta's remaining 16 games, his no-postseason streak will end at 678 games -- 56 shy of the NBA record set by Shareef Abdur-Rahim before he played in a postseason game for Sacramento in 2006.

Adonal Foyle (593) held the active-player distinction until the 2007 playoffs, and Crawford has been atop the list ever since.

Next fall, Troy Murphy (606 and counting), Mike Dunleavy (551), Eddy Curry (511) and Chris Wilcox (482) will be the ones answering questions about what it feels like to have played for so long without ever having had a taste of the postseason. (Kudos to the Elias Sports Bureau and ESPN Research for those tallies.)

"I felt it earlier this season: This is what it must be like, playing in Boston, Cleveland and Orlando, but now it's pretty much out of my mind," Crawford said. "I always said the thing that bothered me the most about it was the fact that I actually hadn't experienced the big games in front of the crowds like that.

"I just think on that stage I'm at my best, and in pressure situations I do really well."

For the first time ever, one month down the road, Crawford will have a chance to back up that boast in a best-of-seven series.

Just don't expect to see him out there when the ball goes up for the opening tip.

As Woodson said, one of Crawford's streaks is certain to remain intact.

ESPN Insider Chris Sheridan is a regular contributor to the Daily Dime

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