Devin Harris

What a shot We'll call it the 76ers Shuffle. It's that continued one step forward-one step back inertia of their season. Heading into the all-star break, they were sitting at a season-high three games over .500 at 27-24. Now after [Monday] night's crushing 98-96 loss to the New Jersey Nets, the Sixers are back down below the .500 mark. Again. With 1.8 seconds left in the game, the Nets inbounded the ball to Devin Harris, who somehow made it to half court for a final heave with roughly .000001 seconds on the clock.

Dallas is dealing With the All-Star Game in Dallas, it was only natural to have the Mavericks dominate the pregame headlines. For the second time in three seasons, Dallas pulled off a major trade before the deadline. In 2008, owner Mark Cuban and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson engineered the deal that brought Jason Kidd to Dallas for Devin Harris. The latest blockbuster, bringing Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavericks - with Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross going to Washington - was approved by the NBA on Saturday evening.

J.R. Smith and Nene scored 19 points each, Chauncey Billups had 14 points and 10 assists and the Denver Nuggets extended their winning streak to three with a 121-96 win over the visiting New Jersey Nets last night. The Nets played without injured point guard Devin Harris (sprained left shoulder) and forward Sean Williams, who was arrested yesterday at a cell phone store in a mall in suburban Denver on accusations he got into an argument with a clerk and threw a computer monitor.

Don Nelson made a triumphant return to Dallas - barely, and in one of the wild finishes that remind him how stressful coaching can be. Baron Davis scored 26 points and Jason Richardson added 22, just enough for the Golden State Warriors to hold off the Mavericks last night, 107-104, in their new coach's return to his old stomping grounds. "I never expected this win," said Nelson, who came out of retirement late this summer to take over the Warriors. "I didn't think we'd be able to beat a good team at this point of the season, but I was wrong.

Josh Howard sparked first-half spurts of 17-1 and 11-0, letting the Dallas Mavericks build a huge lead that they turned into an easy 105-92 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs last night. The first of four meetings this season between the Western Conference powers lacked the sizzle likely to be found in future matchups. If anything, this will give the Spurs more incentive next time around, on Dec. 5 in San Antonio. The Mavericks came out aggressive and the Spurs - who'd won four straight and were a West-best 7-1 - were slow to respond.

The Indiana Pacers are facing another wave of unwanted attention with the arrest of a murder suspect after he had been at the Indianapolis home of forward Shawne Williams. Williams did not practice with the team yesterday and will not travel with the Pacers to their game at Toronto tonight. Team CEO Donnie Walsh said Williams was not suspended but needed time to sort out what happened. Officers arrested 20-year-old Gary Bohanon, of Memphis, Tenn., on a Tennessee warrant for murder Wednesday night, after he allegedly left Williams' home in a truck registered to Williams.

Kris Humphries scored a career-high 25 points and the New Jersey Nets avoided the worst 44-game start in NBA history with last night's 103-87 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers. The Nets (4-40) were tied with the 1993-94 Dallas Mavericks (3-40) for the NBA's worst record after 43 games and all they had to do was lose another to secure another mark in this miserable season that opened with a league-record 18 straight losses. It didn't happen although the Nets managed to blow a 16-point first-half lead in the third quarter before their first win in 2010.

For the second consecutive game, the 76ers played without leading scorer Elton Brand. For the second consecutive game, the Sixers faced a solid opponent. Last night, it was the New Jersey Nets. Although they rallied to win that first Brand-less game - beating the Detroit Pistons on Friday night - the Sixers couldn't find the same fourth-quarter burst, wilting down the stretch in a 95-84 loss at the Wachovia Center. "If you want to be good in this league, you've got to play [back-to-back]

Dwyane Wade was mildly surprised midway through the final quarter to see the Miami Heat trailed by only 10. "We still had a chance," Wade said. Wade scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, and the Heat rallied to beat the visiting New Jersey Nets, 99-94, last night. Michael Beasley scored 19 points and Daequan Cook added 15 for the Heat, who are 3-0 at home for the first time since the 1999-2000 season - and had to dig deep to get there, after the Nets seemed to have the game completely under control for much of the second half.

Vince Carter scored 39 points against his former team, Devin Harris added 30 and the visiting New Jersey Nets rallied from an 18-point, third-quarter deficit to beat the Toronto Raptors, 129-127, in overtime last night. Carter sent the game to overtime by draining a three-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining in regulation, capping a stretch that saw him score 12 consecutive points for the Nets. Anthony Parker returned the favor, nailing a turnaround trey from the corner with 2.9 seconds left in the extra session to tie it at 127, but Carter won it with a reverse dunk on Bobby Simmons' inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds left.

Each year, Mike Kern of the Daily News offers some Masters trivia. Here's this year's edition: 1. Last year, who led after the first round? a. Lee Westwood. b. Peter Hanson. c. Louis Oosthuizen. 2. Which one of these guys wasn't tied for the lead after the second? a. Jason Dufner. b. Louis Oosthuizen. c. Fred Couples. 3. And who was in front after 54 holes? a. Louis Oosthuizen. b. Jason Dufner. c. Phil Mickelson. 4. What did Bubba Watson shoot on Sunday?

THE ATLANTA Hawks took a fast-paced approach to ending their worst slump of the season: Run, run and then run some more. Jeff Teague had a career-high 28 points and 11 assists, Zaza Pachulia finished two assists shy of a triple-double and the short-handed Hawks beat visiting Brooklyn, 109-95, on Wednesday night to stop the Nets' seven-game winning streak. The Hawks, who had lost six of seven, played without leading scorer Josh Smith. The forward was suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount for "conduct detrimental to the team" following an incident in practice Tuesday.

Deron Williams is staying with the Nets. The all-star point guard tweeted Tuesday night that he "made a very tough decision today" and posted a picture of the new team logo that accompanies the Nets' move from New Jersey to Brooklyn. A person with knowledge of the decision said Williams told the team he was accepting its five-year contract worth $98 million. Williams, the top free agent available, chose to stay with the Nets over signing with his hometown team, the Dallas Mavericks.

ANTHONY DAVIS has a left ankle sprain that must be evaluated later this week before he can be cleared to practice with the U.S. team. Davis hurt his ankle at the team's training center on Saturday, and a New Orleans Hornets spokesman said on Monday that the club considers Davis' status for resuming training as day-to-day. The 6-11 Davis, who led the nation with 4.65 blocks per game while leading Kentucky to a national title, is among the players being considered for the American squad at the London Olympics.

THE SIXERS got some unexpected help in their bid for a playoff berth. Jordan Crawford equaled a season-high with 32 points, and John Wall had 14 points and 10 assists Wednesday night as the Washington Wizards dealt the visiting Milwaukee Bucks a crucial, 121-112, defeat in their attempt for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee began the day 1 1/2 games behind Philadelphia for eighth place in the East, but lost a game as the Sixers won in Cleveland.

Paul Pierce scored 27 points and Kevin Garnett added 20 to lift the Boston Celtics over the visiting New Jersey Nets, 107-94. The Nets' Brook Lopez led all scorers with 28 points. Devin Harris' three-point play with 4.5 seconds to go gave the Utah Jazz a 99-98 win over the visiting Miami Heat. . . . Luol Deng led five players in double figures with 24 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 112-91 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Antawn Jamison led the host Cavs with 22 points.

Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and the visiting Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets, 98-91, in overtime last night to move a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Shawn Marion and Jason Terry scored 21 points each, and Tyson Chandler grabbed 12 rebounds for the Mavericks, who snapped a three-game road losing streak. Kevin Martin scored 28 points to lead the Rockets, who were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday.

Dallas is dealing With the All-Star Game in Dallas, it was only natural to have the Mavericks dominate the pregame headlines. For the second time in three seasons, Dallas pulled off a major trade before the deadline. In 2008, owner Mark Cuban and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson engineered the deal that brought Jason Kidd to Dallas for Devin Harris. The latest blockbuster, bringing Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavericks - with Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross going to Washington - was approved by the NBA on Saturday evening.

It was a sad sight in a sorry season. In front of about 1,000 fans, the host New Jersey Nets lost for the 48th time before the All-Star break, trounced by the Milwaukee Bucks last night, 97-77. Andrew Bogut scored 22 points and Ersan Ilyasova added 18 for Milwaukee. A storm that dumped more than a foot of snow on the New York region kept the crowd at the IZOD Center to a turnstile count of 1,016, most of whom moved to the courtside seats and the first few rows of the lower bowl.

Kris Humphries scored a career-high 25 points and the New Jersey Nets avoided the worst 44-game start in NBA history with last night's 103-87 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers. The Nets (4-40) were tied with the 1993-94 Dallas Mavericks (3-40) for the NBA's worst record after 43 games and all they had to do was lose another to secure another mark in this miserable season that opened with a league-record 18 straight losses. It didn't happen although the Nets managed to blow a 16-point first-half lead in the third quarter before their first win in 2010.