* Before the game I spent some time in the Nets locker room and I was really impressed with how Jarvis Hayes conducted himself. He made himself available for any member of the media who wanted his time, he didn’t give “bland” answers to questions and he was courteous when waiting for the trainer to stretch him out before the game. With a young team like the Nets it’s important that they have classy vets like this to mentor their younger players about what it means to be a professional and Hayes fills that role to perfection.

* Nikki Reyes was interviewing Brook Lopez before the game and it was painfully obvious the big fella was smitten.

* I don’t understand why Devin Harris didn’t punish Jose Calderon off the dribble all night. In the first quarter Harris was able to get anywhere on the court and was leaving Calderon in his dust. However, in an attempt to facilitate the Nets offense and get his teammates open looks, he’d beat Calderon off the dribble and then pass the ball to an open teammate. I’m sure Coach Frank wants Harris distributing the ball but I can’t help feel the Nets would have been better served letting Harris attack the rim. Then, when the Raptors post defense starting helping out, Harris could have dumped the ball down low to a big for an easy dunk.

* When Jermaine O’Neal hit the floor early in the fourth quarter you could feel the air sucked out of the Air Canada Centre. Sean Williams was hit with a technical foul and Lawrence Frank immediately raced towards the referee standing near mid-court to argue the call to no avail. After watching the replay it’s clear it was the right call by the officials and it will be interesting to see what the NBA has to say about the play. A couple minutes later O’Neal found his way to his feet and the crowd went nuts to see their star player walk back to the Raptors bench without any help from the Raptors training staff. O’Neal’s time on his feet was short lived as he stayed in the game to shoot his two free throws – which he had a trouble shooting because he could barely bend his knees – and then retreated to locker room to undergo tests on his knee.

* Vince Carter was red hot through the first three quarters of the game but went ice cold after sitting on the bench early in the fourth quarter. In true Carter fashion the cold streak didn’t last long as he hit the three-pointer to force the game into overtime and then threw down a dunk to win the game for New Jersey in the dying seconds of overtime.

* When Carter was asked to explain his three-pointer that forced the game into overtime, he broke into a huge grin while explaining, “I approached it as if it was a normal shot in the second quarter or with three minutes left in the game. I wanted to get my feet set, I didn’t want to shoot it any different than I would shoot it any other time. It went down and about midway I said (to myself) this is going in.”

* Carter was clearly in a great mood after the big win and he boasted about the game winning dunk, “I don’t care if you’re a young man trying to learn how to dunk or (how to) catch an alley-oop, that would be the pass. It was that perfect.”

* Coach Frank, Carter and Harris all gave props to Bobby Simmons after the game for the alley-oop he threw to Carter to ice the win.

* When Harris was asked to explain Carter’s performance he burst into an ear-to-ear grin before exclaiming, “Incredible. Just incredible. He’s been doing that his whole career but I’ve never seen it first hand so I was out there watching just like everybody else. I wanted to do the motorcycle, too!”

* After the game a jovial Lawrence Frank couldn’t hold back a smile when he joked with the media, “That was fun, wasn’t it?”

* Besides the dunk by Vince Carter to seal the win in overtime, the big buzz surrounding the Nets was Devin Harris coming back in the fourth quarter after being nauseous in the locker room. Frank addressed this after the game when he told Hoops Addict, “Devin was great. He vomited, that’s why he had to leave in the third quarter, but he came back and showed great grit for us. He’s really had a good start of the year for us.”

* Harris shrugged off his trip to the locker room and told the media, “I knew I was coming back. I got those fluids up out of me, felt great and came back (into the game).”

* What’s amazing about Harris’ performance is that he scored 23 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

* Harris was asked about the nasty reception Carter was given all night and he chuckled before responding, “That’s just part of pro sports.”

* Carter also downplayed the negative feedback from the Air Canada Centre fans by joking, “I know, deep down, this is sports and this is what happens. I root for my team and I’m a terrible fan, also.”

* Honestly, the booing of Carter has gotten old and downright annoying. It’s become a joke among members of the media and it’s clearly time for Raptors fans to move on. Carter is handling things with class and integrity and it’s about time fans do the same.

* In the three games since he’s been inserted into the starting line-up, Andrea Bargnani has averaged 14.0 points on .472 shooting (4-10 from beyond the arc). Tonight he stepped things up with his first double-double of the season with 29 points, 10 rebounds and two dimes.

* Brook Lopez had his first double-double in the NBA on Tuesday against the Cavaliers with 15 points and 13 rebounds. This game wasn’t a one game blip as the talented rookie has shown flashes of brilliance when given the starting nod and was averaging 15.6 points and 9.6 rebounds though his first three starts. Lopez continued his strong play of late with 14 points and six rebounds tonight.

* Devin Harris is averaging 11 free throws per game despite playing through most of the season with a sore ankle. Equally impressive that a vertically challenge point guard is driving the lane so much is the fact he’s hitting 88.3% (68-77) from the charity stripe. Tonight was no different as he went 10-12 from the line.

* Ryan Anderson scored 15 points while going 3-3 from beyond the arc in a recent game against Atlanta. The second round pick is having a successful rookie season which saw him leading the NBA in three-point shooting percentage at one point last week and entered tonight’s game shooting 62.5% from beyond the arc (10-16). I’m worried I might have jinxed him before the game as he went 0-2 from beyond the arc and finished with just seven points.

* New Jersey is last in the league in three-point percentage allowed (.429) but allowed Toronto to 47.8% (11-23) from beyond the arc tonight.

* Hat tip to the Raptors PR team for the following facts: New Jersey’s 18-point comeback is the sixth largest by a Raptors opponent in franchise history… 126 points is the third highest total in team history… Toronto set season highs for point (129), free throws made (32), three-point field goals made (11) and points in a regulation-time half (61)… Toronto had two turnovers in the first half and 12 in the second half… Chris Bosh had a career-high tying 42 points…

* Ball In Europe is reporting that “the global financial crisis has a direct effect on the Russian basketball now.” They explained this further by reporting, “CSKA Moscow, Dinamo, Khimki, Triumph and CSK VVS don’t pay their salaries right now. CSKA and Dynamo just go long delays. In Khimki’s and Triumph it is much worse. The women’s team of  CSKA is on the edge of bankruptcy. Its main sponsor sold his business and the new owner does not want to have any relationship with the club. But that does not mean that CSKA will have any problems with the players. There is a delay of the payments more than a month. Vatutin, CSKA’s CEO,  said that there are difficulties, but the main sponsor of the team Norilsk Nickel assured that they would continue to fully meet its financial obligations. It is not clear why CSKA has problems, because Norilsk Nickel stocks did not fall significantly for the year.” Former Raptors guard Carlos Delfino and former Nets big man Nenad Krstic are currently playing Russia and it will be interesting to see how things play out for them financially.

Photo Credit: ICON Sports Media