"The weather was great," he deadpanned. "We played no defense."

And that encapsulated his return to New Jersey, where the weather deprived the Dallas point guard from getting the hero's welcome everyone expected.

Still, the Nets did what they could: Ebullient arena announcer Gary Sussman introduced Kidd with a subdued tone - and then waited to see whether the great point guard's presence would have the desired effect. It would have worked splendidly if there were enough people in the building, but the snow kept the crowd down to a disappointing 9,889.

Those Izod Center fans cheered enthusiastically for 30 seconds as Kidd's image from a live camera was placed on the big screen. He responded with waves and returned the salute with a few claps of his own.

"The first time I was in New Jersey, that's what the crowd looked like - about 3,000 people," Kidd said after his Mavs were crushed, 121-97. "That was the first thought, and all the good and bad times we had. We had a lot of great games here in the swamp. Those were some of the things going through my head."

The rest of the night was spent trying to get Devin Harris out of his head, as the man he was traded for abused Kidd for 41 points and 13 assists.

Five months after leaving New Jersey to pursue fame and fortune in Moscow, Nenad Krstic is returning to the NBA. But unless something unexpected happens, it won't be with the Nets.

A restricted free agent, the Serbian center is on the verge of signing a three-year, $15.58-million offer sheet with Oklahoma City, and when the Nets receive official documentation Monday morning, they'll have seven days to either match it or let him play with the Thunder.

As of yesterday, the Thunder revealed no ulterior motive. They want the 25-year-old Krstic, and they want to give the Nets no options other than to match or pass. They have not suggested any sign-and-trade proposals.

"They have not indicated to us that they'd like to do anything regarding a sign-and-trade," Nets president Rod Thorn said. "So we either match it or we don't. Their attitude seems to be, 'We're going to sign him, and you do what you want to.'"

It is very unlikely the Nets will match the offer sheet - if for no other reason that they are already front-loaded, and they would have to eat an existing contract, as they already have the NBA maximum of 15.

Harris and Vince Carter had 41 and 34 points, respectively, last night. The last time a Nets scoring duo managed to score 40-and-30 was back on Jan. 13, 1997, when Kendall Gill (41) and Robert Pack (33) turned the trick in a loss to Orlando.

Jarvis Hayes is taking a stand. He's had just about enough with hamstring injuries.

"It's tricky," said the backup wing, who returned from a four-game absence with his second hammy injury to score 14 points last night. "Sometimes you don't think you strain it so bad, then you try to run, and it feels like there's a midget pulling on your coattail."