With that reality confirmed on Wednesday, as it was announced that Holmes, like Darrelle Revis, would need season-ending surgery, the Jets' anemic offense became even more atrocious than it was already.

Holmes had been the lone bright spot for an offense that ranks near the bottom of the league in almost every offensive category. Now, without their No. 1 and essentially only reliable receiver, Mark Sanchez can expect to see his NFL-worst 49.2 completion percentage drop even lower.

While the Jets' playoff chances are likely about as good as dead at this point, Sanchez and the offense could still salvage some semblance of pride and success this season. But first, the Jets will have to be bold.

Ryan, who has appeared at a shocking loss for words in recent weeks, didn't rule out the idea of bringing in a veteran wide receiver to help fill Holmes' void in the meantime. The likes of Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens and, of course, Plaxico Burress, who caught 45 passes and eight touchdowns for the Jets last season, could all be viable options in New York.

All three players have had success in recent seasons, showing that they still have the ability to make an impact. Owens and Johnson made a dangerous tandem in Cincinnati in 2012. Owens caught 72 balls and nine touchdowns while Johnson amassed 67 passes and four scores. And again Burress had a successful season with these very Jets last year.

Now, with each player over 34 years old and given each of their off-field issues in the past, it's understandable that teams tend to shy away from them. Not to mention Owens' underwhelming performance this preseason that saw Seattle drop him about as quickly as he dropped that Matt Flynn touchdown pass.

But to be extremely cliché here, desperate times call for desperate measures. And right about now, the Jets are in dire straits — as if they weren't before.

Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum have to understand that Jason Hill isn't the answer. And while Burress, Johnson and even Owens might not be the most appealing targets at this time, they might be the only chance the Jets have at recouping some of this season.

For the sake of Sanchez, maybe Tim Tebow, and the entire Jets faithful, something has to be done or else this season could be even worse than it is already. And I don't think any self-respecting fan even wants to know what that looks like.

Have a question for Luke Hughes? Send it to him via Twitter at @LukeFHughes or send it here.

At a news conference to introduce shooting guard Joe Johnson, Nets general manager Billy King declared Johnson and point guard Deron Williams the best backcourt in the NBA, and Johnson asserted that the Nets had supplanted the New York Knicks as the best NBA team in New York City.

It was just the sort of bluster New Yorkers love to hear. It was also dead-on accurate.

Scoffing at King's statement about the best backcourt is easy until one actually takes a look at the rest of the backcourts in the NBA. The newly paired Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles may possess greater name recognition, but Williams laps Nash at this point, while Bryant is no longer light years ahead of Johnson, as he once was. Aside from that, who is there? Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings?

As for the Knicks, the longer they dilly-dally with sending a new contract to Jeremy Lin, the longer they will flirt with irrelevance. Yes, a team that employs Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Jason Kidd will always have a place on the back pages, but the Knicks could be rendered irrelevant in the league at large if the Nets get off to a hot start and the Knicks engage in the brand of "hero ball" that turned off so many fans before Lin's arrival last season.

In New York, nothing is worse than being second-best.

The Nets certainly did not come to the media capital of the world with a Brooklyn attitude. The franchise is not gulping Pabst Blue Ribbon, composting garbage or going vegan. No, King and owner Mikhail Prokhorov have ordered the Dom Perignon, thrown all their recyclables into Styrofoam trash cans and gotten a double order of veal, figuratively speaking. They traded for one of the highest-paid shooting guards in the game, re-signed a soon-to-be 30-year-old small forward in Gerald Wallace and made a push for Dwight Howard. (Maybe you heard about that.) In the meantime, they justified their prospect-purging trade two years ago by getting Williams to sign a five-year extension.

No hipster chic here. Just Broadway, all day — even more so than the neighbor that actually plays on Broadway.

The buzz in NYC until the ball goes up next fall will be around the Nets. The best player in the city (Williams) belongs to the Nets. The best coach in the city (Avery Johnson) belongs to the Nets. The trendiest logo belongs to the Nets (we said "trendiest," not "best"), as do the fresh new digs. Most fans, whether casual or seasoned, are much more interested in watching the Nets play this season than they are in watching the Knicks' torturous style.

The Nets are not championship contenders, of course. Not even close. Only by finally acquiring Howard can they possibly move into that echelon. But they can make a reasonable claim to having the league's best backcourt, and they are the top team in their home city. Just ask them.

Have a question for Ben Watanabe? Send it to him via Twitter at @BenjeeBallgame or send it here.

Not to worry though, the Kontinental Hockey League is hoping to bring European hockey to North America instead.

The KHL plans to play a pair of regular-season games in Brooklyn next January, according to a report by Dmitry Chesnokov of the Yahoo! Puck Daddy blog. The plan is to hold the games at the new Barclays Center, the home of the NBA’s Nets, who are owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.

Brooklyn is also home to a large Russian population, which could add to the appeal of the games. It could also be an interesting option for NHL fans if this latest round of labor negotiations causes a shutdown anywhere near the length of the last owners’ lockout.

Even if the NHL is up and running next winter, the chance to see another league in person and compare the style and level of play of what is largely considered the second best professional league in the world should elicit some curiosity from Big Apple hockey fans. The KHL hopes to make as big a splash as possible, with several of its marquee teams and players likely to be chosen to make the trip, though the actual participants for the proposed games have not been finalized.

“In January before the [KHL] All Star Games the KHL will hold two regular season games at the new Brooklyn arena. We are planning to send teams with names to New York,” KHL president Alexander Medvedev told Sovetsky Sport on Tuesday, as translated by Chesnokov.

“There are five candidates at this time,” Medvedev added. “They are CSKA, Dynamo [the reigning KHL champion], as well as the teams [Jaromir] Jagr and [Alexander] Radulov played for [Avangard Omsk and Salavat Yulaev] and SKA St. Petersburgh. I am sure these games will be sold out.”

Despite the announcement in Sovetsky Sport, Chesnokov reported that it’s not quite a done deal yet.

“Discussions with Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment are ongoing about having two games in January 2013,” a KHL representative told Chesnokov. “There isn’t anything official/done to be announced at this time.”

Still, if the games do come to fruition, it will be a welcome chance for a unique hockey experience with a taste of European hockey on North American soil.

Have a question for Douglas Flynn? Send it to him via Twitter at @douglasflynn or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

Today's entry comes courtesy of Phil Mushnick, a New York Post columnist who made the weird connection between basketball, Jay-Z and the former New Jersey Nets' new black-and-white color scheme to float the idea that the team change its name to the "New York N——s."

So, is it offensive? Well, it might be, if it made any sense.

Here is the paragraph in question:

"Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N——s? The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B—-hes or Hoes. Team logo? A 9 mm with hollow-tip shell casings strewn beneath. Wanna be Jay-Z hip? Then go all the way!"

That word — which, you may have noticed based on the number of dashes between the "N" and the "S," is not even the right number of letters (and that is copied and pasted from his article) — is patently offensive, of course. What Mushnick seems to be getting at is, since Jay-Z uses that word in his rap lyrics, and since rappers like the color combination of black and white, the name would fit the franchise's "urban" personality, or something like that.

Judging by the comments left at the bottom of the story, plenty of people read the article and immediately thought: OK, that's racist. But that might be putting too fine a point on it. Stupidity is not always prejudiced. Sometimes stupid is just stupid.

For instance, when someone uses the word "gay" as an insult, it could mean that they are a homophobe, but most likely it just means they stopped learning new put-downs sometime around the seventh grade. Calling something "gay" is the equivalent of putting making an "L" with the index finger and thumb and sticking it to your forehead. If you are over the age of 14, the loser is you.

Mushnick writes in a "muckraking style," according to his Wikipedia page, which was clearly written by one of the many people who are confused as to what "muckraking" means. The term "muckraking" comes from early 20th-century journalists like Upton Sinclair, who raked through literal muck to expose deplorable conditions in meatpacking. It does not mean someone sits in a high rise in Manhattan and flings ill-considered muck across the river at Brooklyn. In fact, it means exactly the opposite.

A real muckraker might still have written what Mushnick wrote, but he would have first ventured out to the borough, hunkered down at Atlantic and Flatbush avenues and polled the passers-by on how they felt about his proposed nickname. The looks on the faces of the people who even bothered to stop would make an interesting enough column on their own.

This is all assuming, of course, that we know what the heck Mushnick is talking about. Again, according to my Merriam-Webster's New World Racial Epithets Edition, he wrote (and the copy editors failed to catch) the wrong number of dashes.

He might have intended to suggest "Brooklyn Numerals" in honor of what the players will wear on their jerseys; "Brooklyn Nabokovs" after the Russian novelist who penned Lolita, in a nod to owner Mikhail Prokhorov's Russian heritage; or "Brooklyn Nostrils" in a reference to the body part that gets assaulted by the stench of the New York subway, which the Nets are encouraging fans to ride to games at the Barclays Center.

Of course, nobody would suggest these names, because these names are stupid, as opposed to New York N——s, which dives right past stupid and sinks even deeper.

Have a question for Ben Watanabe? Send it to him via Twitter at @BenjeeBallgame or send it here.

The Nets' tenure in New Jersey is officially over. The team capped off its 2012 home schedule on Monday night in fitting fashion — with a 105-87 loss to the 76ers — and now heads for Brooklyn as part of its relocation.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie didn't pull any punches when sending the Nets out the door, though. Rather than show up to the team's final home game in New Jersey to participate in some sort of parting love fest, Christie delivered his message to the Nets during a news conference. And it was awesome.

"I'm not going to the Nets game tonight, and my message to the Nets is goodbye," Christie said, drawing an ovation from those in attendance. "If you don't want to stay, we don't want you."

Christie said that he's sure another NBA franchise will at some point look to relocate, stressing that if the Nets want to move to Brooklyn, then "good riddance."

The Nets, of course, have become somewhat of a laughingstock in recent years, missing out on the playoffs every year since the 2006-07 season. This season, the Nets sit at 22-43, so it hasn't exactly been a warm sendoff by the players, either.

Have fun, Brooklyn.

Photo of the Day

The series — and the NHL playoffs for that matter — in a nutshell.

Quote of the Day

"[Bismack] Biyombo told me, 'This is my house.' I told him, 'You have seven wins. It's everybody's house.'"
–Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay to Bismack Biyombo (who?) of the lowly Bobcats (a team that's lost 21 straight and is on the verge of ending the season with the lowest winning percentage in NBA history).

Tweet of the Day

Me either, Will. Me either.

Video of the Day

Nice shoot, Pudge. Now give Pedro the 1999 MVP Award he deserves.

Video courtesy of SportsGrid.

Paul Pierce certainly sent a shiver up coach Doc Rivers' spine when the Celtics captain came up limping with a few minutes left in Saturday's 94-82 win over the New Jersey Nets. Rivers quickly sent in Sasha Pavlovic to replace Pierce, who jogged gingerly to the bench but waved off head athletic trainer Ed Lacerte.

Pierce's injury was not much of an injury at all, Rivers said afterward, and Rivers did not seem to think Pierce would miss any time.

"He just stubbed his toe," Rivers said. "If there's anything, we'll shut him down, but we'll find that out in a little bit."

The Celtics are stepping lightly around their players' health this weekend as they play three road games in three nights. Saturday's game was the second stop on the trip before immediately heading off to Charlotte to take on the Bobcats on Sunday. After that, they get a whole day off before playing the Knicks in New York.

Rivers' assessment is not the final word. As the coach has said, Doc is just a nickname. Rivers has not seemed overly concerned with Ray Allen's ankle, yet the shooting guard has missed nine of the last 14 games. So what might be just a "stubbed toe" could turn out to be anything.

The Celtics survived another scary moment Wednesday when power forward Brandon Bass crumpled to the floor while clutching his knee in overtime against the Hawks. Like Pierce, Bass shrugged off his ailment, which he said was a hyperextension. Bass has played in both games since then, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds against the Nets.

Down to only about eight reliable bodies heading into the postseason, the Celtics cannot afford a single serious injury in these final six games. Rivers would probably prefer it if his players would stop scaring him like that.

Have a question for Ben Watanabe? Send it to him via Twitter at @BenjeeBallgame or send it here.

So serious, in fact, that he's started talking smack to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the New York Daily News reports.

"Let the best man win," Prokhorov said Tuesday. "If he wins, I will crush him with the kickboxing throwdown."

Cuban and his deep pockets are just one of the reasons rumors have swirled that Williams would want to sign with the Mavericks. Williams is originally from Dallas, and the franchise's current point guard, perennial All-Star Jason Kidd, is getting up there in age. (Kidd, in fact, came to Dallas in a trade from New Jersey. And in further NBA incest news, former Dallas coach Avery Johnson is now the New Jersey coach. What do these have in common? The Nets playing second fiddle to the Mavs.)

But that won't keep Prokhorov down. The Russian owner, who took on Vladimir Putin himself for his nation's presidency this spring, can surely go toe-to-toe with Cuban. Prokhorov has already started trying to talk his star into staying.

"We have, I think, we have a very good discussion," Prokhorov said. "He really wants to win. And I want to win maybe even more."

The Nets could offer Williams an extra year on his deal and about $30 million more in total, the Daily News reports.

Prokhorov's efforts to bring the franchise back to life include moving the team to Brooklyn and building a new arena, not to mention roster overhauls. Williams was the first major move the Nets made after flirting with Carmelo Anthony for months until the then-Nuggets star went to the Knicks instead.

Kevin Garnett

One such team is the New Jersey Nets. According to the New York Daily News, the Nets are targeting Garnett and Ersan Ilyasova (currently of the Bucks) in free agency.

The Nets, who will move to Brooklyn next season, will reportedly have roughly $8 million to work with this summer after renouncing the rights to Kris Humphries. The report indicates that Ryan Anderson (currently of the Magic) is another top forward who will be available, but that the Nets want a stronger rebounder alongside Brook Lopez.

Garnett could consider retirement, but he's proven this season that he still has some game left in the tank. The Big Ticket has averaged 15.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 31 minutes per game this season, while also providing the Celtics with his usual superb defense and leadership skills.

Despite the lack of movement for the NBA’s top stars, a select few teams were able to make some key moves that either put themselves in a good position to make a run for the playoffs, or at the very least, brought in some insurance for the future.

As always, when there are deadline winners, there are bound to be a few deadline losers, and this year, more teams ended up on wrong side.

Top 5 Deadline Winners

1. Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers have had possibly the worst luck out of any NBA team over the past decade. This is a team that hasn’t even made it past the opening round of the playoffs since 2000 and their only two bright spots over that period have been Brandon Roy (suddenly retired at the start of the season) and former first overall pick Greg Oden who was just recently dropped due to injuries. However, Portland may have turned their luck around after Thursday’s deadline, acquiring a great mix of talented young athletes including Jonny Flynn and Hasheem Thabeet while also adding some verteran depth with Mehmet Okur. The Trailblazers also added a future first-round draft pick from the Nets, as well as a future second-rounder from Houston.

2. Los Angeles Lakers
Unfortunately for Celtics fans, the Lakers got themselves some great value with two deadline-day deals. The first of which came when L.A. got rid of small forward Luke Walton and his outrageous contract ($5.7 million for averaging less than two points per game) by sending Walton, Jason Kapono and a 2012 first-round pick for a solid young point guard in Ramon Sessions. Sessions is averaging 10 points per game but with Kyrie Irving running the show in Cleveland, Session time was limited. The Lakers also parted ways with long-time point guard Derek Fisher in return for 24-year old center Jordan Hill.

3. Leandro Barbosa
More commonly known as “The Brazilian Blur,” Barbosa was lucky enough to be traded from one of the worst teams in the NBA – The Toronto Raptors — to a team that is currently sitting pretty at fifth place in the Eastern Conference, the Indiana Pacers.

4. Marcus Camby
Very similiar to Barbosa’s situation, the 37-year old journeyman will now be playing for his sixth NBA team in 17 years. The defensive-minded center has spent the majority of his career on the outside of the playoffs. Camby may finally get his chance for a deep playoff run now  that he is a member of the Houston Rockets who are sitting just a game and a half out of fourth place in the West.

5. Nick Young
Young indeed. At 6-foot-7, the 26-year old shooting guard is currently playing some of the best basketball of his career, averaging over 17 points per contest for one of the worst record-wise and market-wise in the NBA, the Washington Wizards. Young is now a member of “Lob-City,” aka the Los Angeles Clippers, who needed to add an outside scorer after losing Chauncey Billups for the season. Young will get a chance to play along some of the leagues most hyped superstars, in front of a packed house of celebrities night-in and night-out. Nick Young, you are a winner.

And now on to the not-so-lucky teams and players, who just couldn’t get it done at this years deadline.

Top 5 Deadline Losers

1. New Jersey Nets
The Nets missed out on one of the biggest free agent since LeBron James, when they failed to sign Superman, Dwight Howard. Without Howard, the Nets will struggle to keep superstar point guard Deron Williams after this season which makes this deadline dud sting all the more for all 15 Nets fans out there.

2. Gerald Wallace
The 29-year old small forward will now be playing for his third team in two seasons. Wallace is a jack-of-all-trades, averaging over 15 points and six rebounds, but for some reason Wallace continues to live out of his suitcase as he bounces around from team, to team, to team.

3. Celtics GM Danny Ainge
If you were to tell me that the Boston Celtics would go through the 2012 NBA trade deadline without making a move, I would have called you a bold-faced liar. But after it was all said and done, I’m still twiddling my thumbs waiting to see what the Celts are doing. With the recent injury to power forward Chris Wilcox, it was almost a sure thing that the Celtics would add some depth to their already weak front court in hopes for one last playoff push. With the way things are going now, only time will tell if Danny made the right call.

4. Mike D’Antoni
Another surprise loser. Two weeks ago, D’Antoni was considered a basketball god after creating “Linsanity,” and now he is without a job. Since going 10-3 without All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks went on a six-game losing streak and clearly have some serious locker-room issues to deal with now that D’Antoni has resigned.

5. Memphis Grizzlies
I had this spot penciled in for the Orlando Magic before Howard decided to return for next year. So now it is the Memphis Grizzlies who have the misfortune of making the losers segment. The Grizzlies are actually in a pretty good spot right now coming out of the trade deadline, tied with the L.A. Clippers for fourth place in the West. The Grizzlies only real need was just to add some depth to their team instead of having to play guys like Jeremy Pargo and Quincy Pondexter in the playoffs. Instead, the Grizzlies were hampered by their Cap Space and ended up sending small forward Sam Young to the 76ers for practically nothing.

Green showed exactly how electric he can be near the rim against the Houston Rockets on Saturday night. He received an alley-oop pass from MarShon Brooks and jumped to where his chin was level to the rim. He swung his right arm around and windmilled the ball into the basket.

Watch Green's dunk below.

Thumbnail via YouTube

But for his older sister, Kaela Humphries, the news has been a little better, as she has reportedly signed with Ford Models' plus-size divison, according to the New York Daily News.

"So excited to be working with the team @fordmodels," she tweeted on Monday. "This is going to be a great 2012! Stay tuned "

Humphries, 29, has been on the CW's Remodeled and made appearances in Kourtney and Kim Take New York, according to the report.

Check out some pictures of Humphries, as well as video from her stint on the Richie Rich runway show, below.

Photos courtesy of her Twitter page, @Kaelahumphries.

The former Celtic and 2007 NBA Slam Dunk champ is expected to sign a second 10-day contract Thursday to remain with the New Jersey Nets, Andy Vasquez of northjersey.com reports.

Green, 26, has attracted praise for his scoring and athleticism off the bench.

"Gerald has definitely — he's been good for us," point guard Deron Williams was quoted as saying. "Most of our wings just run to spot up, but he runs to the rim, runs to get transition buckets, and it just gives us a different look out there at the wing."

Green has averaged 7.7 points and 20.7 minutes in three games with the Nets. He last played in the NBA in 2008-09, when he appeared in 38 games with the Mavericks.

This is the final 10-day contract Green can sign with the Nets. Once the second 10-day contract is up, the Nets must release him or sign him through the end of the season.

What’s ensued has been a whirlwind of speculation and a swirl of trade rumors worthy of Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton‘s pursuit in the 1996 action thriller Twister.

But all that changed on Sunday.

It wasn’t but five days earlier that nearly every expert around the NBA was willing to give Rajon Rondo the heave-ho right on out of Boston. Even amidst his third All-Star selection, Danny Ainge and the rest of Celtics Nation had seemingly had enough of the much-maligned point guard’s wayward attitude and inconsistent play. Whether Ainge or coach Doc Rivers would admit to it, the consensus was that it was time for a changing of the guard — literally.

Suddenly, Rondo’s name was being mentioned in just about every possible trade scenario around the league and even with his near double-double averages on the season, 13 points and nine assists at the time, his value was as low as ever. No one wanted to pay a fair price for a point guard with a bad attitude and no jump shot. And who could blame them?

The rumors initially seemed to only inhibit Rondo even more, as the sixth-year guard was held scoreless and completely shown up by rookie Kyrie Irving during the Celtics 86-83 win over the Cavaliers last week.

Seemingly, things couldn’t get much worse for the star point guard as it appeared he finally hit rock bottom. Maybe he wasn’t the building block for a franchise. Maybe he was just another complimentary player with an oversize ego.

That very realization, the thought that he may not have what it takes to be the top dog, appears to be the single thing that set him off, even if he won’t admit it.

“I don’t listen to it, because I just think everything happens for a reason, and whatever happens will happen,” Rondo said of the trade rumors, following the Celtics 115-111 overtime win on Sunday. “It’s not a distraction for me. All I do is try to concentrate on keep getting better, regardless of where I’m at. I just play.”

Yet, his play has shown otherwise.

On Wednesday, just one night after dropping his goose egg in Cleveland and listening to the increasing echo of rumors, Rondo turned his game on and his attitude around with one of his best performances of the year. Rondo put together his 15th career triple-double, scoring 15 points to go along with 10 assists and 11 rebounds, in the 102-96 win over Milwaukee. In the win, he also put on a defensive display, holding guard Brandon Jennings to just six points on the night — well below his 18.6 per game average.

Rondo had reasserted his dominance, but this same inconsistent play had been seen so many times before. What was different about this time?

The visibly energized Rondo seemed focused, a look that the athletic anomaly typically only gets when he’s in a big game on the national stage. Yet, in a Friday night game against the lowly New Jersey Nets, Rondo followed up his outstanding by getting the better of all-world guard Deron Williams with 14 points, 13 assists and five steals in the C’s 107-94 victory.

Then came Sunday.

Throughout his six year NBA career, Rondo has had a number of outstanding performances including a 24-assist effort against New York early last season and of course nearly averaging a triple-double throughout the entire 2009 first-round playoff series with the Chicago Bulls. But none were quite as impressive as Sunday’s incomparable 18-20-17 triple-double against the Knicks.

With the feat, Rondo became just the third player in NBA history with at least 15 points, 20 assists and 15 rebounds in a game. The only others to achieve that eye-popping stat line were a pair of Hall of Famers in Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson — talk about elite company. Not even the ever-heralded Magic Johnson, widely considered the best rebounding point guard of all time, was able to accomplish that.

That type of performance is not just one for the record books or for stat junkies to drool over. It is the very type of show that a true franchise player would put on. A performance that not only deserves kudos from analysts and experts, but one that garners attention from a colleague that scored 57 points the same day.

A player better known in some circles for his cold attitude and unwelcoming demeanor than his unparalleled court vision and uncharacteristic athleticism, Rondo has never been the media’s sweetheart. But the 26-year-old guard has always tried to use the unrelenting criticism as motivation to raise his game.

The recent surge in his play may simply be Rondo’s “forget-you moment,” in which he proves all the doubters in the media or around the league wrong. Then again, maybe it’s just the first sign of a more composed and mature Rondo. At least his teammates seem to think so.

After Sunday’s outrageous performance, Celtics captain Paul Pierce excitedly showered his praises on his point guard.

“That’s the Rondo we like to see, playing with all that energy,” Pierce said. “He got the guys the ball in open spots; he did everything for us [on Sunday]. He rebounded, he passed, he got the clutch rebound there in overtime and got the layup. That’s the Rondo I like to see.”

Kevin Garnett echoed Pierce’s sentiments, and even went as far to address the origin of Rondo’s motivation — the trade rumors.

“You could see it on his face. Just like when he was playing Deron Williams [on Friday]. If you’re going to be anything in this league, you’ve got to play against your position. [And] trade talks really are a good motivating factor for him,” Garnett said, doling out some of his highest praises. “If you know Rondo, he’s an I’ll-show-you type of person, very motivated, and that’s what you love about him.”

The issue tends to be that Rondo isn’t able to keep up such a high level of motivation and falls into extended slumps against lesser competition — such as a zero-point night in Cleveland or a five-point, seven-assist night in a February loss at Toronto. That may be in large part due to his immaturity, which has also been widely seen as the cause for his poisonous attitude.

Following Sunday’s game, the overwhelming feeling to trade Rondo had generally subsided. It was now a popular belief that Rondo was indeed a building block for the future, quite to contrary of what many were saying just a week earlier.

Will he continue to shine only in big moments, such as on national television where 11 of his 16 career triple-doubles have occurred, and shrink against lesser opponents, or will he finally seize the opportunity and assert himself consistently as one of the best players in all of basketball? The final verdict will ultimately be decided by Rondo’s play on the court, but one thing is for certain he should not be for sale.

Danny Ainge may not be able to predict the future or even anticipate Rondo’s developing maturity, but after seeing what he is capable first-hand on Sunday there is no way that Ainge can reasonably trade away one of the best all-around guards in the league.

Kris Humphries

Now, with the two broken up, Humphries is reportedly a bit upset about the whole wedding gift fiasco. According to TMZ, the Nets big man is adamant that the gifts should be returned to the guests, feeling that Kardashian has no right to keep them.

Kardashian has reportedly decided to donate the money from every gift the couple received to charity. TMZ reports that Kardashian estimates the total value of the gifts to be around $100,000, and that she's since cut a check for double that amount to the Dream Foundation.

That's not enough for Humpries, though. He reportedly feels the guests were duped into spending their hard-earned cash on the wedding gifts, claiming Kardashian never intended to give their marriage a real chance.

Therefore, Humphries feels that Kardashian should have donated the money in addition to giving back the gifts.

Silly them. It probably shouldn't come as any surprise that in a league that features nonsensical team names like "Los Angeles Lakers" or "Utah Jazz," a decade somehow lasts six years.

There are strong indications that the league will opt out of the current CBA in six years, according to multiple reports. Commissioner-in-training Adam Silver hinted at it Friday at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, noting that "I hope we begin with an understanding of the financials" when it comes time to reopen negotations on a labor deal that garnered the league an extra $300 million from the players' share of revenue.

The question is, where is the outrage? When a player signs a multiyear contract and starts hinting that he wants to renegotiate or demands a trade before the contract is up, fans invariably respond with indignation. The player gets villified for being greedy and failing to honor a contract, especially if it's one he inked fewer than four months ago.

Yet here stands the NBA, which won the battle in the recent lockout both from a public-relations and a cold, hard dollars standpoint, seemingly building its case to opt out at the soonest possible moment. Attendance and TV ratings are strong, maximum and mid-level salaries are team-friendly and stars like Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant are among the most marketable players the league has had in decades due to the simple fact that they seem like decent human beings. And the league contends it is still losing money.

A contract is a contract, which is why it would be nice if guys like Dwight Howard would stop talking, play out the string and then exercise their right to free agency when it arrives. (Similar to the NBA's opt-out situation with the CBA, Howard has a player option that he can use to become a free agent at the end of the year.) The public backlash against Howard, if he does choose to depart Orlando, will be understandable.

The NBA, like Howard, has every right to opt out of the agreement in 2017. It's right there in black and white. When it does, many fans will shrug and say, "That's business."

That is indeed business, and the detached response is probably the healthiest response. Then, when a star player wants to restructure his contract, fans will furrow their brows and angrily call talk radio, while from a balanced point of view, some of us will be saying, "Huh?"

Rondo has 14 points, 13 assists and five steals as the Celtics (18-17) diced the Nets (11-25) in the second game of a three-game home stand. Most impressively, Rondo committed only two turnovers and helped hold Nets point guard Deron Williams to just 12 points and eight assists.

Ball movement was the key to the game for the Celtics, who tallied 35 assists against a Nets defense that didn't offer much resistance.

Paul Pierce, who has looked out of sorts of late, scored 27 points on 10-for-14 shooting and added eight assists. Kevin Garnett has 20 points and 10 rebounds, his fifth double-double in his last six games.

The most encouraging aspect of the game from the Celtics' perspective, though, might have been the play of Chris Wilcox and Mickael Pietrus. Those two combined for 25 points, 13 rebounds and solid defense that won't show up in the boxscore.

Fourth quarter, 2:03, Celtics 103-87: The Celtics crossed the 100-point barrier with more than six minutes remaining. They've only passed the century mark seven times previously all season.

Fourth quarter, 7:55, Celtics 94-76: The first four minutes of the fourth quarter were interesting, to say the least. The teams combined for only 12 points, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. The ball seemed to be filled with helium as it bounced from hand to hand (not always between players on the same team).

By the time the Nets called a timeout to sort things out, the Celtics' lead was at 19 points after Sasha Pavlovic knocked down a step-back jumper.

Fans did get to see a free throw miss by New Jersey's Anthony Morrow. That was just the fourth time this season he's missed from the foul line.

End of third quarter, Celtics 87-71: Green's insane hops must have unnerved the Celtics, because for the first time in this game, Boston became careless with the ball.

Following an eyes-above-the-rim alley-oop dunk from Brooks to Green (their second hook-up of the game), the Celtics turned the ball over for uncontested layups on consecutive plays. Green finished off one break with a two-handed tomahawk and Jordan Farmar finished the other with a boring old layup.

A Farmar 3 later closed the gap to "only" 14 points. The Celtics committed seven turnovers in the third quarter after committing only two turnovers in the first two quartes combined.

Third quarter, 5:15, Celtics 79-53: The Celtics looked rested and sharp, and possibly ready for a highly anticipated matchup with the rejuvenated Knicks on Sunday.

Pierce, who had a solid first half distributing the ball, looked for his own shot after halftime. His three-point play, 3-pointer and another old-fashioned three-point play gave the Celtics their largest lead thus far.

Rondo got to 13 assists and still had not committed a turnover.

Halftime, Celtics 58-40: If the Nets offered any defensive resistance in the first half, the Celtics didn't seem very concerned with it. The C's registered 16 team assists and just two turnovers while building a lead that grew to as many as 20 points.

Protecting the ball helped mask the Celtics' difficulty shooting from outside. In the absence of bomber Allen, the celtics went 2-for-10 from beyond the arc.

The Good: Rajon Rondo was all but doing tricks with the ball. The Celtics point guard had seven assists, five steals and not a sinle turnover. His 10 points on 5-of-12 shooting, three of which came on midrange or short jumpers, were just gravy. …Paul Pierce was patient, but much sharper than he has been in the last two weeks. He played 17 minutes, scoring 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting with four assists and no turnovers. … Mickael Pietrus and Chris Wilcox were the stories of the first half. The duo made up their own hustle squad, combining for 19 points. …

The Bad: Marshon Brooks has struggled to find his role since Lopez's return. The second-leading scorer among rookies took just four shots in the Nets' last game, and attempted only one field goal in the first half against the Celtics. The Providence alum finished the half with four points, two rebounds and three turnovers.

The So-so: Deron Williams was off to a hot start before the Celtics began focusing on him and basically daring the rest of the Nets to beat them. Williams scored 10 of the Nets' first 18 points before he was held scoreless the rest of the way.

Second quarter, 1:25, Celtics 54-34: Williams got knocked in the face by the ball or a defender as he lost the ball, and he left the game. That added injury to insult for the Nets.

With Rondo keying the attack, Pietrus and Wilcox continued to reap benefits from merely filling the lanes and defending, defending, defending. The Nets had no answer for the Celtics' press, with Pietrus as the point man.

The Celtics outscored the Nets 18-4 since it was last a four-point game at the 7:02 mark.

Second quarter, 4:11, Celtics 46-30: "Air France" hasn't made many appearances in Boston this season — Mickael Pietrus has been more like "3-Pointer France" — but Pietrus showed off his hops with two transition dunks, thanks to Rondo's playmaking.

The Celtics' 12-0 run opened up their largest lead of the game. Rondo, with seven assists, three steals and still no turnovers, was at the middle of it all.

The Nets committed eight turnovers, with Humphries and Brooks the biggest culprits with two turnovers apiece.

Second quarter, 5:57, Celtics 38-30: Pierce and Garnett were having no more of the Celtics' stand-and-shoot offense, which helped the Nets cut their deficit to four points. The C's veterans attacked the hoop for a pair of layups by Pierce and a tough layup in traffic by Garnett, on an assist from Rondo.

Rondo got up to five assists without a turnover. That's a key stat against a Nets team that is proving adept at capitalizing off its opponent's miscues.

Second quarter, 8:45, Celtics 31-25: The young Nets don't seem very concerned with the widely-held opinion that they stink. Given the smallest fall-off in effort by the Celtics, the Nets took what was there.

The running Celtics let off the gas early in the second quarter, and Marshon Brooks and Anthony Morrow delivered back-to-back buckets for the Nets to cut it to six points.

End of first quarter, Celtics 29-20: The Celtics limited turnovers and hit the boards, helping them twice take 11-point leads in a first quarter filled with hustle plays.

Pietrus and Chris Wilcox (as usual) were the most obvious players in green running the floor with Rondo. Wilcox muscled for an offensive rebound to get a three-point play and Pietrus scored five points with a steal.

Williams and Rondo seemed to be aware there is a debate out there as to which point guard is better. Rondo scored four points with four assists and no turnovers, while Williams had 10 points, three assists and just one turnover.

First quarter, 3:00, Celtics 25-18: Green made his entry at the 5:37 mark and quickly got on the board with a jumper. He proceeded to miss a 3-pointer, showing that he won't put this 10-day contract to waste.

In the meantime, Deron Williams was busy putting on a clinic at point guard. With Rondo and Pietrus alternating defensive assignments, Williams scored 10 of the Nets' first 18 points as the Celtics' lead was whittled down to seven points. He also dished three assists.

Pierce looked sharper than he has in weeks, hitting four of his first seven points while handing out three assists with zero turnovers.

First quarter, 8:30, Celtics 11-4: Pietrus in the starting lineup gave the Celtics a completely different look. They defend better, are longer in the backcourt and the offense seemed to run more crisply, since Rondo and Pierce didn't have to pound the ball while they waited for Allen to sprint off a screen.

That doesn't mean the Celtics are a better team with Pietrus than Allen. It simply means they are very different, and that difference was good enough to dash out to a 9-0 run to take the early lead.

Garnett had a dunk off a nice no-look pass by Rondo on the break and a jumper, as he gave Lopez a tough time early.

7:25 p.m.: Here's a trivia question that is guaranteed to get your a hot date if you pop it at the club: Who was the last player to wear No. 5 for the Celtics before Kevin Garnett?

If you guessed (or knew) that it was Gerald Green, good for you.

The one-time aerial attacker had been out of the NBA since 2009 before the Nets brought him in on a 10-day contract this week. He came through with 10 points Tuesday in his first game as a Net.

I'm sure there will be a career retrospective video, a la Kendrick Perkins, when (if) Green enters the game. Tears are sure to flow and the ovation with definitely be deafening.

7:10 p.m.: With Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce all reportedly drawing trade talk, two members of of the Celtics definitely will not suit up Friday for the Celtics.

Ray Allen is sick and Jermaine O'Neal is contemplating season-ending surgery on his left wrist, forcing both veterans out for the game. Brandon Bass and Mickael Pietrus as slated to started in their place.

The mostly healthy Nets counter with their own smallish lineup, with 6-foot-5 DeShawn Stevenson listed at small forward.

The projected starting lineups are below.

Nets
Brook Lopez
Kris Humphries
DeShawn Stevenson
Marshon Brooks
Deron Williams

Celtics
Kevin Garnett
Brandon Bass
Paul Pierce
Mickael Pietrus
Rajon Rondo 

6:45 p.m.: The Celtics and Rajon Rondo, who either is or isn't being actively shopped on the trade market, depending on whom you listen to, welcome another team facing trade rumors.

The New Jersey Nets have been the subject of trade rumors going back to last season, when Carmelo Anthony (now a New York Knick) was rumored to be on their wish list. The Nets picked up point guard Deron Williams as a pretty nice consolation prize, and now they're reportedly part of the Dwight Howard sweepstakes.

Rondo is still in Boston, for now, and he'll try to lead the Celtics to their third straight win. The Nets are 3-10 in their last 13 games after snapping a nine-game slump last week. They have won three straight on the road, though, against three quality opponents: Bulls, Knicks and Mavericks.

Final, Team Chuck 146-133

Paul George finished with 23 points and DeMarcus Cousins added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the double-double.

Jeremy Lin had a dreadful game with only two points in ten minutes played.

Team Chuck led from start to finish and the smallest lead for Team Chuck was 2-0 after Paul George dunked to start the game.

Second half, 0:25, Team Chuck 146-131: John Wall responds with big dunk to put the lead back to 146-131 with 25 seconds left.

Somehow Team Shaq cuts the lead to 144-131, but there is only 45 seconds left.

Greg Monroe nails free throw to complete three-point play to make it 140-123.

Team Chuck leads 140-120 with a little under two minutes remaining in the game.

John Wall receives pass from Kyrie Irving to put the game out of reach at 135-118. Irving now has seven assists.

Kyrie Irving reaches 31 points with a reverse layup that gives Team Chuck the 131-118 lead.

Second half, 5:43 , Team Chuck 127-116: Team Chuck starts getting sloppy with turnovers. Their lead lead is cut to 127-116 thanks to a three-pointer from Team Shaq.

Evan Turner is looking to make history with a triple-double in the Rising Stars game with 16 points, eight ebounds and seven assists with seven minutes left in the game.

John Wall now has eight assists and Kemba Walker leads Team Shaq with nine dimes.

Second half, 9:03, Team Chuck 121-102: Blake Griffin and Jeremy Lin are most likely done for the night, so there is little hope for Team Shaq to win this one.

The lead is now 119-99 for Team Chuck after a dunk from John Wall and that will tie their largest lead.

After cutting the Team Chuck lead to 11 points, Team Shaq started turning the ball over and the lead for Team Chuck creeped back up to 19 points.

First half, 14:32 , Team Chuck 98-85: Kemba Walker feeds Blake Griffin for another slam that cuts the lead to 98-85.

Blake Griffin won’t let Team Shaq lose as he shows off with a self alley-oop pass off the backboard to cut the lead back to 19 points.

Derrick Williams pushes the lead to 96-75 after a great feed from John Wall.

Jeremy Lin scores his first basket of the game that cuts the lead to 87-73 with a little over 17 minutes left in the game.

Kyrie Irving is 6-6 from deep as he pushed the lead to 85-71. Irving now has 24 points on 9-10 shooting.

Blake Griffin gets a great pass from Ricky Rubio to cut the lead to 67-77 with a monstrous dunk.

Second half, 20:00, Team Chuck 77-65: The second half is underway in Orlando. Can Team Shaq come back from double digits to defeat Team Chuck?

Jeremy Lin was held scoreless and only played five minutes in the first half. Will he get more playing time?

Halftime, Team Chuck 77-65: Kyrie Irving leads all scorers with 18 points while hitting all four of his three-point attempts to lead Team Chuck to the break with the double digit lead. He also dished out three assists.

A 14-6 run to end the half helped keep Team Shaq from getting close to gaining the lead for the first time all evening before the halftime break.

Kyrie Irving hits a couple three-pointers to get the lead back up to double digits for Team Chuck, 71-61.

The Team Chuck lead was cut to four, 63-59, after a Kemba Walker three.

Brandon Knight cuts lead to 55-50 with a deep triple.

First Half, 4:52, Team Chuck 53-47: Markieff Morris with a great feed from Ricky Rubio cuts the lead to 53-47. Team Chuck calls the quick timeout after 10-3 run by Team Shaq.

First half, 7:44, Team Chuck 50-37: It looks as if Team Shaq will not be a great playoff team as Shaq hoped, but that is probably becuase Team Chuck is taking advantage of their offensive rebounds. Also, Team Chuck is shooting 79 percent from the field, which doesn’t hurt.

First half, 10:20, Team Chuck 38-29: Tristian Thompson drives uncontested to basket for the slam dunk.

John Wall has a quick four points to get the lead back up to 34-23.

Team Shaq cuts the lead to seven thanks to a three from Markieff Morris

Norris Cole knocks down his first shot from three-point land that cuts the lead to 25-16.

Gordon Hayward gets a dunk on his first play of the game thanks to a pass from MarShon Brooks. Team Chuck leads 23-11

Ricky Rubio continues great play with another drive to the hoop that cuts the lead to 19-9.

First Half,14:55, Team Chuck 18-7: DeMarcus Cousins alrady has 10 points in this one with a nice slam to give Team Chuck the double digit lead.

Paul George has nice stutter step that makes it 14-6.

Ricky Rubio has nice drive to basket and alley-oop pass to Blake Griffin to cut the lead to 10-4.

Paul George starts off the scoring for Team Chuck with a thunderous dunk. The lead is 2-0.

9:15 p.m. ET: Shauille O’Neal apparently wanted some trades with Charles Barkley’s team, but Barkley wanted none of that. Now it is time to meet the starting squads:

Team Shaq

Jeremy Lin

Brandon Knight

Ricky Rubio

Greg Monroe

Blake Griffin

Team Chuck

Kyrie Irving

Evan Turner

Derrick Williams

DeMarcus Cosuins

Paul George

8:30 p.m. ET: The Rising Stars Challenge is just half an hour away from tip off and both rosters are now officially set after players were replaced due to injury.

Team Chuck

Pick 2: Kyrie Irving, PG (Cleveland)
Pick 4: Demarcus Cousins, C (Sacramento)
Pick 6: Paul George, SG/SF (Indiana)
Pick 8: Derrick Williams, PF (Minnesota)
Pick 10: MarShon Brooks, SG (NJ Nets)
Pick 12: John Wall, PG (Washington)
Pick 14: Gordon Hayward, SF (Utah)
Pick 16: Derrick Favors, PF (Utah)*
Pick 18: Kawhi Leonard, SF (San Antonio)
Pick 20: Evan Turner, SG (Philadelphia 76ers)

*- Favors is replacing Tiago Splitter who is out with injury.

Team Shaq

Pick 1: Blake Griffin, PF (LA Clippers)
Pick 3: Jeremy Lin, PG (NY Knicks)
Pick 5: Ricky Rubio, PG (Minnesota)
Pick 7: Greg Monroe, C (Detroit)
Pick 9: Markieff Morris, PF (Phoenix)
Pick 11: Kemba Walker, PG (Charlotte)
Pick 13: Landry Fields, SG (NY Knicks)
Pick 15: Norris Cole, PG (Miami)
Pick 17: Brandon Knight, PG (Detroit)
Pick 19: Tristian Thompson, PF (Cleveland)

8 a.m. ET: The All-Star festivities have officially arrived in Orlando as Team Shaq will take on Team Chuck in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday.

Both teams are composed of nine players that are either rookies or second-year players in the NBA. The TNT analysts, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley, drafted these players late last week. Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin was drafted first by Shaq. He also later picked Jeremy Lin and Ricky Rubio for his squad. This should lead to an exciting hightlight reel of dunks for Griffin.

Team Chuck also has some great young players with the likes of Kyrie Irving and John Wall at the point guard position and Derrick Williams as the best young forward on the squad.

Stay tuned for more coverage of this event as it is set to tip off at 9 p.m. ET.

Prokhorov appeared on Russian television comedy show Projector Paris Hilton, and the hosts wrote a rap for him. It's reportedly based around his "signature technology product" in Russia and the rap is a play on words about how the product sounds like a Russian curse word.

Check out the video below.

Jeremy Lin

Knicks fans spent much of the night heckling Nets players, as is customary when conference rivals come to town, but most of the "boos" seemed directed toward one player in particular — New Jersey forward Kris Humphries.

Humphries has been the subject of all sorts of hate since his 72-day marriage with model Kim Kardashian ended in a divorce late last year, but he has received even more attention from the New York faithful.

Lin took some time to talk with Humphries after Monday's loss, telling the Nets forward that all the boos were undeserved.

"I saw him in the tunnel outside the locker room after the game," Humphries said in an interview with ESPN's Scott Van Pelt on Tuesday.

"He's a really nice guy," Humphries added of getting to know Lin. "He just said, 'Hey, I don't know why they boo you, but I think it's crap, and you're playing really well.' That was nice of him to say. He's a really nice guy."

Even amidst the boos, Humphries put together a solid night on Monday, scoring 14 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to help the Nets snap their five-game losing streak.

Humphries also talked about Lin's rapid ascent to the top of the NBA and his international popularity saying, "It's nice to see great things happen for nice people."

Current Nets 3-point specialist Anthony Morrow plans to pay homage to the Croatian legend in the long-distance shootout this weekend at the NBA All-Star festivities in Orlando.

Morrow, a career 44 percent 3-point shooter (just like Petrovic) will wear Petrovic's No. 3 Nets jersey during the competition, the Star-Ledger reports.

"I just remember — I don't remember a whole lot — but I remember he could shoot real, real good," Morrow told NJ.com's Mike Vorkunov.

Petrovic averaged more than 20 points per game in his two full seasons with the Nets before he died in a car crash. The story of Petrovic and how his friendship with Serbian Vlade Divac disintegrated during the war in Yugoslavia was the subject of the ESPN documentary Once Brothers.

Petrovic photo via Flickr/NBANets; Morrow photo via The Associated Press