May 3, 2002

BANKER FIRES BACK - CSFB SUED BY OUSTED HIGH-LEVEL EXEC

Amid Chief Executive John Mack's aggressive efforts to cut compensation costs and reorganize Credit Suisse First Boston, at least one investment banker is fighting back. In an unusual move on...

XEROX DROPS AFTER DEBT IS CUT FROM JUNK TO CRAP

Xerox Corp.'s stocks and bonds plunged yesterday after a credit rating agency cut its bond rating - already considered junk - three notches. Moody's cut the rating from "Ba1" to...

FEELING CHEAP, LVMH PUTS SQUEEZE ON DONNA

Bernard Arnault is cutting costs at Donna Karan again. The LVMH boss had decided to can Donna's men's collection for Spring 2003. Donna Karan International will not show or produce...

GIULIANI'S 'LEADERSHIP' A HIT

FORMER Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in his first public appearance as an author, wowed the usually tweedy, left leaning literary crowd at the opening night kickoff of Book Expo America at...

EX-DREXEL HEAD'S BACK ON THE STREET

He's baaack. Frederick Joseph, one of the most famous and feared investment bankers who formerly ruled the roost during Drexel Burnham Lambert's heyday, is again running high-yield deals on Wall...

CHICHI WATER WAR - BOTTLERS SPAR OVER PIECE OF $7B INDUSTRY

The world of drinking water is getting dirty. Bottlers are going to war over the trendiest new bottled beverage - enhanced water - using arm-twisting, lawsuits and tens of millions...

SOTHEBY'S GOES H'WOOD - AUCTION HOUSE INSPIRES NEW TELEVISION DRAMA

A new TV drama on the private intrigues of the rich and powerful is being developed around auction house Sotheby's. "There's no better world to find sex, power, thievery, back-stabbing...

SPLITS IN STORE FOR MANY RETAIL STOCKS

Even if you can't afford the goods, buy the stock. A slew of retail stocks have been taking off, and now they're paying off with a bevy of stock splits...

THE TALENTED MR. ALLEN

"Woody Allen: A Life In Film" Tomorrow night at 8 on Turner Movie Classics (if you're a Woody fan) IT'S Woody Allen time. A new movie and a major new...

LET LENNY RULE - KRAVITZ OFFERS NO APOLOGIES, HAS NO COMPLAINTS

FEW artists in music have sparked the style vs. substance debate like Lenny Kravitz. Kravitz has taken his share of licks, having been accused of everything from being a pretty...

STARR REPORT

The 700 club: 'AMW' chalks up another one "America's Most Wanted" marks its 700th capture in a special edition airing from The White House tomorrow - with host John Walsh...

MAIS OUI, IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD LOVE

LA CAPTIVE [] Obsessive love in Paris. In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 118 minutes. Not rated (sex, nudity). At the Anthology Film Archives, Second Avenue and Second Street,...

DON'T BET ON IT

DEUCES WILD [ 1/2] Garbled gang drama lowers the ante. Running time: 91 minutes. Rated R (violence, profanity, sex). At the Empire, the Kips Bay, the Chelsea, others. ------- 'DEUCES...

ON TOP OF OLD FAITHFUL

WARM WATER UNDER A RED BRIDGE [ 1/2] Wet and wild sex. In Japanese, with English subtitles. Running time: 119 minutes. Not rated (sex). At the Lincoln Plaza, 63rd Street...

THE LOST WORLD OF NAIPAUL'S TRINIDAD

THE MYSTIC MASSEUR [ 1/2] Charming, leisurely social comedy. Running time: 118 minutes. Rated PG (nothing offensive). At the Angelika and the Cinemas 1,2,3. ------------- THIS latest Merchant-Ivory production, "The...

FUN-HOUSE TOUR

HOME MOVIE [ 1/2] No place like these homes. Running time: 60 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectionable). At the Union Square, 13th Street and Broadway. ----------- MARTHA Stewart would have...

SHOWTIME FOR 150 POP STARS

IT'S been a bittersweet week for about 550 singing New Yorkers who took a shot trying out for Fox's new reality show "Pop Idol" - but didn't get called back...

DOWN'S UPSHOT: IT'S ALL IN THE RIFF

DOWN ------ THE mantra of metal supergroup Down is "the power of the riff compels you." They say it aloud, the crowd chants it back and it's on the backs...

WHACK! $55 TYSON FIGHT

THE Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis heavyweight title fight will be available on pay-per-view at a recommended price of $54.95 - a record high. The June 8 fight at the Memphis Pyramid...

STILL SPRINGTIME FOR 'PRODUCERS'

THE PRODUCERS [ 1/2]At the St. James Theatre, 246 W. 44th St.; (212) 239-6200. -------- WHAT happens to "The Producers" after the Producers have up and gone? Not Mel Brooks...

HALO, GOODBYE

SYLVESTER Stallone's CBS pilot about a hero priest is in jeopardy - threatened by the sex-abuse scandal rocking the Catholic church. TV Guide's Max Robins reports in the May 11...

MIXED CEE-LO MESSAGE

THE opening track on Cee-Lo's debut solo album, is "Bad Mutha" - as in you know the rest. Don't be deceived. What really matters to this hot hip-hop soul man...

MARVEL-OUS! - MAGUIRE INSPIRED IN WEB CAST

SPIDER-MAN [] Satisfying superhero adventure. Running time: 121 minutes. Rated PG-13 (occasionally brutal violence). At the E-Walk, the Chelsea, the Kips Bay, others. --------------- THE inspired casting of Tobey Maguire...

SLIM TONY PICKINGS - OR HOW TO SEPARATE THE BLEAK FROM THE CRASS

PITY the 30 theater people who make up the Tony Award nominating committee. They've just slogged through a Broadway season stuffed with what Gannett theater critic Jacques le Sourd has...

OSBOURNE AGAIN! AMERICA'S FAVORITE BLEEPIN' FAMILY INKS NEW DEAL WITH MTV

HOLY Bleep! TV's hottest expletive-laden family will be back for more. Sharon Osbourne, the wife-manager of heavy-metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne, told millions of delighted viewers last night "The Osbournes" have...

OH SHOOT, SHARON! THE NEW OSBOURNES ARE... THE PUFFYS : BUT OZZY'S SURE TO GET A BLEEPIN' 2ND SERIES

SUDDENLY Sean "Puffy" Combs has shut up about his impending deal with MTV to star in the next reality show like "The Osbournes." Combs' uncharacteristic silence - after last week...

COPS HUNT KILLER DRUGLORD WHO ESCAPED DA'S CLUTCHES

A convicted killer who operated a violent Harlem drug gang escaped from investigators of the Manhattan DA's office and was the object of an intense manhunt last night, police said....

'TERROR' CHARITY GOT FORTUNE 500 CASH

WASHINGTON - An Islamic charity accused of helping Osama bin Laden has raised thousands of dollars from unsuspecting U.S. companies and their employees through a tax-exempt federal program, The Post...

N.J. BOY, 7, BEGGED, 'DON'T GO, FATHER' - JUST BEFORE W. BANK THUGS KILLED HIS DAD

JERUSALEM - The 7-year-old son of a divorced couple - who shuttled between a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and his mother's home in New Jersey - experienced a...

WHY TV NEWS LOVES A LIAR

ON April 17, when Israel completed its military action in Jenin, the Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "We have 1,600 missing men in this refugee camp. Mostly...

BLOOMY'S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK IS FAR TOO ROSY: THOMPSON

The city's economy isn't rebounding as quickly as Mayor Bloomberg is projecting, city Comptroller Bill Thompson warned yesterday. Thompson is forecasting growth of only 2 percent next year, less than...

WONDER WOMAN - TINY L.I. STORE CLERK POUNCES ON 200-LB. PERP

A petite, 5-foot-tall, novice jewelry clerk, enraged by a customer who snatched the gold bracelet she was showing him, chased the 5-foot-11, 200-pound bruiser in her bare feet, tackling him...

RUDY AT SCENE OF HIS PRIME

Former Mayor Giuliani took a short trip down memory lane yesterday, returning to City Hall for the first time since he handed over power to Mayor Bloomberg. "It's a real...

'OPERATION SNIPE' TARGETS OSAMA

WASHINGTON - A force of 1,000 British combat troops has begun a major new operation in southeastern Afghanistan, as U.S.-backed coalition forces appear to be readying for a decisive battle...

FANS FUME AT BUTT-HEAD BRITNEY

Disappointed fans of Britney Spears say they want to kick her butt - right out of her fingers. Their pleas come after yesterday's Post photo showing the blond pop tart...

ANDY STICKS TO HIS GUNS AFTER MISFIRE AGAINST GOV

Democrat Andrew Cuomo yesterday defended his stinging comments about Gov. Pataki's post-Sept. 11 leadership - the day after a poll showed he's slipped with voters in the gubernatorial race. Cuomo...

COW-ARDS GIVE IN TO LOBBY: POL

WASHINGTON -- The House yesterday corralled a New York congressman's effort to save crippled and dying cows from the slaughterhouse, as it bowed to a meaty lobbying campaign by big...

DEMS' VIDEO: BUSH BREAKS HIS PROMISES

WASHINGTON - Democrats unleashed a harsh attack videotape yesterday that charges President Bush has broken a litany of campaign promises on domestic issues. The tape comes as a Gallup poll...

MET DIVA'S TRAGIC LAST ACT - 'BATTERING' DEATH PROBED IN FLORIDA

The curtain came down on faded diva Marthe Errolle under grim circumstances - with the 86-year-old bruised and battered in a Sarasota, Fla., emergency room. It was a sad ending...

BOSTON PRIEST IS BUSTED IN KID RAPE

The child-molesting priest who once ran a Catholic hostel in New York was busted yesterday on kid-rape charges, weeks after disclosures that Boston church officials covered up for him. The...

NERVE OF STEAL - POLICE: LEAD-FOOTED CAR 'SELLER' FLED WITH BUYERS' CASH 17 TIMES

The ads offered a real steal: a late-model Lincoln Town Car, perfect for use as a livery car, at a rock-bottom price. But cops say the man who placed the...

A CITY DRIVER'S WEEKEND? KNOT!

"If you drive your car into the city on Sunday, you will be stuck in traffic" - and tomorrow won't be much better. So said Michael Scagnelli, the NYPD's transportation...

'SPIDER-MAN' FLICK WILL SPIN GOLDEN WEB

"Spider-Man" opens across the country today - and the red-hot tale of the web-spinning superhero could rake in as much as $100 million over the weekend, movie analysts predict. That...

DA BIDS TO AX BLAKE BODYGUARD'S LAWYER

LOS ANGELES - Prosecutors want a judge to fire the lawyer for Robert Blake's accused co-conspirator - because they might want to call the attorney to testify against her client....

WOMAN GETS 6 YEARS FOR 52G SCAM

Maria Garcia, 51, swindled an in-law and her Lower East Side neighbors out of $52,000 so she could live in a fancy, gated community in Pennsylvania. And yesterday, she was...

CABLEVISION LOSES YANKEE FANS

The Yankee TV blackout has cost Cablevision 5,400 subscribers, the cable giant said yesterday, and there's little hope of a deal to carry the Bombers any time soon. Cablevision chief...

LEVY: GIVE SCHOOL-BUILD PANEL TO BLOOMY

Schools Chancellor Harold Levy touted a plan yesterday that would give Mayor Bloomberg control of school construction and slash out-of-control building costs by 30 percent. The proposed overhaul of the...

BLOOMBERG BACKS G-MAN IN SLAYING OF DRUG SUSPECT

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday backed the DEA agent who shot a drug suspect in Brooklyn on Tuesday, saying he "acted appropriately" when he pulled the trigger - but that didn't mollify...

BUSH CALLS IT 'OCCUPATION' - ASKS ISRAEL FOR 'VISION,' POKES ARAFAT

WASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday prodded both the Palestinians and Israel to move ahead, warning a Palestinian state must be free of "corruption" and making a rare reference to Israeli...

POLS A$K AID FOR KIDS' 9/11 STRESS

New York lawmakers are calling on the federal government to cough up more funds to counsel city students still traumatized by Sept. 11. A survey released on Wednesday found that...

PBA BIG EYED IN GRAY PROBE

A controversial police-union official is likely to be targeted by probers looking into how cops handled the investigation into Joseph Gray, the officer who mowed down a Brooklyn family while...

BUDGET DEAL WAIVES TAXES FOR 9/11 KIN

Gov. Pataki and state lawmakers have agreed to waive millions of dollars worth of state income taxes for families of 9/11 victims, officials said last night. The new state budget...

TEARS AT WAKE FOR PUNCHED HS SENIOR

Friends and relatives of a Westchester teen who died a week after he was punched at an underage booze party hailed his kind heart and warm smile at his wake...

CROOKED COMPUTER RING SMASHED, 16 BUSTED: DA

Sixteen people were indicted yesterday in a theft ring so complex, investigators needed two years to unravel it. The gang used ID information bought from people in the local Pakistani...

DRUG COP IS RUN DOWN BY CRACK FIEND

A heroic cop who spends her nights busting drug dealers and her days spoiling her grandkids with ice cream was run down by a suspect early yesterday when an undercover...

POLICE SHENANIGANS - 32 S.I. COPS REASSIGNED IN BOGUS-TICKET SCANDAL

Thirty-two cops have been assigned new shifts in the shakeup over a ticket scandal in their Staten Island precinct, The Post has learned. NYPD internal probers plan to grill 120th...

'IT'S VICTIMS' FAULT' - DWI-COP LAWYER IN STUNNING CLOSING ARGUMENT

The lawyer for the ex-cop who ran over and killed a family in Brooklyn last August used the "blame the victims" defense yesterday. Although Harold Levy admitted his client, former...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

An undercover cop in Florida doesn't clown around when it comes to busting hookers. Tampa police officer Tim Pasley has posed as Coco the Clown - dressed in a purple...

RANDI BLASTS BLOOMBERG, WARNS OF TEACHER STRIKE

United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said yesterday her union next week will take its first step toward calling a strike - after lashing out at Mayor Bloomberg for...

BUBBA TV: BILL'S '$50M TALKS' FOR NBC SHOW

Heeeere's Bubba! Former President Bill Clinton has been networking with NBC executives - discussing hosting his own TV talk show. The ex-prez tossed around the idea with NBC honchos Wednesday...

FEDERAL PROSECUTORS FILED PAPERS

Federal prosecutors filed papers yesterday appealing a Manhattan judge's decision criticizing the Justice Department and throwing out charges against a terror-probe suspect. Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled on Wednesday that prosecutors...

YASSER TALKS TOUGH AFTER SLITHERING OUT OF SIEGE

A defiant Yasser Arafat flashed the V-for-victory sign and blew kisses as he took a victory lap around Ramallah yesterday after Israel ended the siege of his headquarters. Arafat blasted...

$157M PONZI KING GETS 10 YEARS

A $157 million Ponzi scheme mastermind - whose victims included Giants wide receiver Ike Hilliard - has been sacked with a 10-year prison sentence. Michael Gause, 46, ran a crooked...

'IT'S VICTIMS' FAULT' : DWI-COP LAWYER IN STUNNING CLOSING ARGUMENT

The lawyer for the ex-cop who ran over and killed a family in Brooklyn last August used the "blame the victims" defense yesterday. Although attorney Harold Levy admitted his client,...

SIX HELLS ANGELS NABBED IN L. I. FOR ONGOING 'CYCLE' OF VIOLENCE

Six Hells Angels - including one out on bail for a murder at the Hellraiser's Ball 2 months ago - have been busted in raids at their Hempstead, L.I., clubhouse...

DRUG COP IS RUN DOWN BY CRACK BUYER

A heroic cop who spends her nights busting drug dealers and her days spoiling her grandkids with ice cream was run down by a suspect early yesterday when an undercover...

ALBANY $PARES US FROM PAIN: MAYOR

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday said the state has done its part to help the city avoid slash-and-burn spending cuts. In his first comments on the new state budget, Bloomberg said a...

ARTEST: WE WERE THE BETTER TEAM

The Nets may be moving on to face Charlotte, but that doesn't mean they deserve to - ask Ron Artest. "It hurts because we're better than the Nets," Artest said...

UNLUCKY LILLY DRAWS MARINERS ONCE AGAIN

YANKEE NOTES Ted Lilly isn't looking to no-hit the Mariners tonight. What he is searching for is a win. "I am certainly eager to get a win, or even as...

JEFFERSON: MIRACLE 3-POINTER WAS BAD CALL

Rookie Richard Jefferson thought the officials allowing Reggie Miller's 39-foot banked 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer to count was a bigger mistake than his two missed free throws that set...

NETS WORK OT FOR WIN - KIDD TRUMPS MILLER IN THRILLER

GAME 5 / 2 Overtimes Nets 120 Pacers 109 The Nets' history has been littered with failure, disappointment and injury and has served as a veritable testament to Murphy's Law....

KITTLES READY TO KEEP ON RUNNING

NET NOTES When the season began, Kerry Kittles set a goal: 82 games. Coming off reconstructive knee surgery, Kittles wanted to make it through a whole season. Well, he's played...

REGGIE JUST RUNS OUT OF MIRACLES

Come on. Was there ever any doubt? Either time? Hey, it's not like you weren't warned. It's not like you'd never seen it before. "Reggie is just an assassin," said...

KENYON WORKED OVERTIME

Kenyon Martin came out of the shower late last night and saw two dozen reporters and a slew of cameramen standing near his locker. "You better get out of the...

JASON'S HEROICS LEAVE NO DOUBTS ABOUT MVP

THERE has been more than a mild debate about who should win the NBA's MVP Award this year. Shaquille O'Neal? Tim Duncan? Those who voted for anyone other than Jason...

HORNETS WILL BE NETS' NEXT TEST

Jason Kidd now goes from facing a hobbled rookie point guard in the Pacers' Jamaal Tinsley to arguably the league's best in super-hot Baron Davis in the second round of...

LEITER'S JUST WILD OVER PEN

PHOENIX - Al Leiter calls the Mets relievers "the best bullpen in baseball." The numbers suggest just that, though they can't be perfect every night. Kane Davis was the first...

'ZONA ZAPS METS WIN STREAK - D'BACKS ROUGH UP ESTES

PHOENIX - In the Mets' first two games against Arizona, fine pitching and a suddenly potent offense dove-tailed into two blowout victories. Last night, the Mets ran out of opportunities...

'DAN' THAT BOB BAFFERT

LOUISVILLE - It wouldn't be a Kentucky Derby without some controversy, and that rascally trainer Bob Baffert provided plenty with his last-minute entry of Danthebluegrassman, who was written off as...

TAKE CHARGE LADY OUT TO BOSS OAKS

LOUISVILLE - A week ago, people were saying that today's Grade 1, $500,000 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs was shaping up as a better race than tomorrow's Kentucky Derby, with...

RODDICK'S HOT & REALLY COOKIN'

The pressure builds for Andy Roddick, America's latest tennis phenom. Yesterday he took on another challenge, trying to whip up his mother's Rock Potatoes for an appearance on Half Baked,...

FLUKE ENTER THE FRAY

THE fluke season opened yesterday in New York and this should add to the growing variety of species in the marine waters around Long Island and in the New York...

ISLES CLEAR OUT WITH HEAVY HEARTS

Yesterday was a lot like the last day of school for the Islanders, who packed up their duffel bags, lugged off bundles of sticks and went their separate ways for...

FANS HAVE THEIR RIGHTS - AND WRONGS

EVEN during my college hippie days, I was a political moderate. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Put it this way: I didn't want anyone who looked or...

REESE NEW CHIEF OF GIANTS' DRAFT

Overseeing moves that he says "streamlines the organization," Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi announced several changes that gives the team's football operations a different look. Jerry Reese, the assistant director...

A FIELD OF DREAMERS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS

LOUISVILLE - Many an eye will well up with tears tomorrow at Churchill Downs, when the brass band strikes up "My Old Kentucky Home" as a full field of fleet-footed...

SHOWERS IN FORECAST

LOUISVILLE - The weather has been extremely wet the past two days here, with severe thunderstorms passing through the area. Although today's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, showers are...

GAMBUZZA STEAMS AS LAFAYETTE CRUMBLES

Joe Gambuzza guided Lafayette's baseball team into the playoffs in each of the 22 seasons he coached the Patriots. Now retired in Las Vegas, he looks at the sad state...

JO'BURG CAN BEAT THE ODDS

LOUISVILLE - The good news about the 128th Kentucky Derby tomorrow is that no matter what horse you bet, you will get a square price. The bad news is that...

CELTICS NOT GETTING IT DONE

IN the playoffs, it's all about finishing the J-O-B. When you're wielding the M.C. Hammer, shop-students, have some pride, strive to achieve top quality craftsmanship, pound those pennies into your...

DOSAGE BOILS IT DOWN TO 3

LOUISVILLE - The so-called Dosage Dual Qualifier Derby system, which ran up a spectacular series of winners through the '80s and '90s, pinpoints three candidates in tomorrow's Kentucky Derby. They...

HORSEMEN HAVE THEIR FAVORITES

The Post hit the backstretch to gather these horsemen's picks on this year's wide-open Kentucky Derby:Nick Zito, two time Derby winner with Strike the Gold (1991) and Go for Gin...

'SHOWTIME' TO ST. JOHN'S

He may have taken a different route than he wanted to, but Daryll "Showtime" Hill finally ended up where he wanted to be. The former Cardozo star, who spent the...

THORN: YAO NO WOW

While Knicks GM Scott Layden has gone ga-ga over Yao Ming, Nets GM Rod Thorn is less enthused. Thorn, who still made it to Chicago for the Ming workout Wednesday...

FAN DEFECTIONS MAKING CABLE RIVALS FEEL PINCH

PLASTERED on the right-field wall in Yankee Stadium, in full view of everyone who can get the YES Network, is a billboard advertising a certain high-speed internet service provided by...

GIAMBI NOT TRUE YANKEE JUST YET

I'M trying to read the 50 minds surrounding me, trying to imagine what many of the 100 hands I hear clack, clack, clacking away are typing. And this is what...

GIAMBI'S CURTAIN CALL: BIG BLAST POWERS YANKEES PAST A'S

Yankees 9 A's 2 Water into wine is out of the question. But Jason Giambi is slowing transforming the negative vibe aimed at him by Yankee fans into a positive....

JOE'S PEN MAKES IT LOOK EASY

As long as Joe Torre has been managing in The Bronx, he has preached the necessity of starting pitching, espoused the virtues of aces like Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Andy...

PITCHING SURPLUS? NO WAY!

ASK Joe Torre to name the worst pitching staff he ever managed and he answers with a non-answer in the blink of an eye. "I wouldn't dare tell you that,"...

STRUGGLING RONDELL HAS A SOLUTION

Nobody knows Rondell White's swing better than White himself, and the Yankees' struggling left fielder says his recent slump isn't about mechanics, or even about fatigue, as manager Joe Torre...

GIAMBI'S CURTAIN CALL : BIG BLAST POWERS YANKEES PAST A'S

Yankees 9 A's 2 He can't convert water into wine but Jason Giambi is slowly transforming the negative vibe aimed at him by Yankee fans into a positive. And that...

NICK NEEDS STICK FIX: TORRE CONCERNED WITH EARLY-SEASON SLUMP

Nick Johnson pulled up his socks and cocked his head at the question. After a short pause the slumping rookie answered. "Do I toss and turn at night?" Johnson repeated....

UNLUCKY LILLY GETS M'S ONCE AGAIN

YANKEE NOTES Ted Lilly faces the Mariners tonight for the second time in six days and is hoping for a better outcome. No, Lilly isn't looking to no-hit the AL...

YES, DOLANS MAY BE IN FOR SURPRISE

PLASTERED on the right-field wall in Yankee Stadium, in full view of everyone who can get the YES Network, is a billboard advertising a certain high-speed internet service provided by...

AL'S WILD ABOUT BULLPEN

MET NOTES PHOENIX - Al Leiter calls the Met relievers "the best bullpen in baseball." The numbers suggest the pen is just that good. On Wednesday night, the Mets completed...

MET BATS GROW IN DESERT: AMAZIN' LUMBER STARTING TO DELIVER

PHOENIX - Is this a desert mirage, or has it finally happened? Because it sure looks like the offense has provided a welcome oasis for the stellar Met pitching. In...

NETS' BIG, BRAVE HEARTS PROVE THE DIFFERENCE

REGGIE MILLER, not once, but twice applied a dagger that would have punctured most hearts. As if the 39-foot bank shot at the buzzer to send the game into its...

NETS DON'T HAVE THAT CHAMPIONSHIP LOOK

TWO things are indisputably clear regardless of whether or not the Nets were victorious in a deciding Game 5 last night against the Pacers at Continental Airlines Arena. One, there's...

ISIAH RELISHES COACHING ROLE

Nobody relished being part of playoff basketball any more than Isiah Thomas. And nobody will forget his million-dollar smile or his "We're Number One" index-finger salute that trademarked his back-to-back...

NETS WORK OT FOR WIN: KIDD TRUMPS MILLER IN THRILLER

GAME 5 / 2OTs Nets 120 Pacers 109 Reggie. Reggie. Jason. Improbably burned by Reggie Miller to force not one but two overtimes, the Nets turned to their MVP candidate...

JASON TRIUMPHS IN BATTLE OF THE SUPERSTARS

Two great ones Jason Kidd and Reggie Miller - went head to head last night in one of the greatest first-round playoff games ever. Miller made the miracle banked 3-pointer...

NETS: WE'LL PLAY SUNDAY - SCOTT AND KIDD INSTILL CONFIDENCE

This did not come as a brash, empty promise. This was not spoken in anger or undue emotion or as mindless chatter. Instead, Byron Scott said what he felt yesterday...

HORNETS READY TO STING SECOND-ROUND FOE

If the Nets survived last night against the Pacers, Jason Kidd would go from facing a hobbled rookie point guard in Jamaal Tinsley to arguably the league's best point guard...

NETS LEARN TO RELAX UNDER PRESSURE

NET NOTES In Game 1, the Nets came out and basically died of stage fright. Lights, camera, action. Freeze. And they froze. But for last night's Game 5, the Nets...

COMMISH TURNED ON BY SWAMP ELECTRICITY

All of a sudden, the Meadowlands Swamp hasn't seemed like such a morgue. Even commissioner David Stern commented on the difference a winning team can make. "When there are 22,000...

AIKMAN A SLY FOX: NEW FIRST-TEAM ANALYST WON'T CLOSE DOOR ON QB COMEBACK

Troy Aikman arrived late, then talked about leaving early. Yesterday, plane problems forced the former Cowboy QB to be tardy as Fox officially announced Aikman will join Cris Collinsworth and...

'LATIN' LOVER: RACE-CALLER TOM DURKIN LIKES LONGSHOT IN KENTUCKY DERBY

With a 20-horse field jockeying for position, the 128th Kentucky Derby will be as much about survival as speed. "I think [the winner] might be the last one standing -...