It's been a long time since I've rooted for a team that's headed to a playoff series, but I do remember how necessary it is for fans to stir up some animosity toward the team you're about to play. (A one-game playoff, like in football, isn't quite the same.) If the Red Sox are going up against the Indians in the '99 ALDS, you've got to get angry about Robbie Alomar's spitting, Jaret Wright's headhunting, or the fact that Cleveland fans consider themselves diehard, when no one was able to get 3,000 of them together at one time until 1995. If the Celtics are playing the '88 Pistons, you just look at Bill Laimbeer's evil face for 30 seconds and you're all set.

Which leads me to the Celtics-Nets game tonight. I had nothing against the Nets coming in; I'm usually for sudden, dramatic turnarounds. Jason Kidd's re-energized that...well, not that city. That state doesn't sound right, either. That particular patch of swampland. Anyway, there's a chance the Celtics might meet the Nets down the line, and tonight I worked up enough animosity to last me through a 7-game series.

Kenyon Martin is a punk. He's gotten more flagrant fouls than Rasheed Wallace this year, and after watching his hatchet job on Vitaly tonight, I'm convinced he probably deserved every one of 'em. And -- get this -- V got thrown out of the game. Which makes me think that the Nets are getting some residual love from the refs; since the Knicks aren't going to be in the playoffs (go ahead, read that line again and savor it), the NBA needs one New York-area team to keep ratings afloat and interest level high. Since the Knicks aren't going to be in the playoffs. God, I love saying that. Of course, 2 years from now, they'll have Yao Ming, DeJuan Wagner, and that high-school kid from Ohio, so enjoy it while you can.

Am I off-base with thinking that the refs are coming to New Jersey's aid? Well, probably. But we'll wait until we see Spike Lee, Woody Allen, a Baldwin, and any other erstwhile-Knick-fan at the Meadowlands before we truly judge. At least a playoff run will give the Nets money to install some lights at the arena; that place was darker than Laimbeer's soul tonight.