New Jersey Nets

NORTH BERGEN, N.J. -- Unhappy about diminished playing time and eager to join a winning organization, New Jersey Nets point guard Kenny Anderson said yesterday that he will become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Bob Ferry could spend his days on the deck of his Annapolis home that looks out onto the Chesapeake Bay, but he's not big on sitting still. He gave up boating when his three kids left the house and stopped playing basketball more than five years ago, at age 69, after he tore his rotator cuff. He and his wife of nearly 52 years, Rita, dote on their eight grandchildren, but on many of their visits, Ferry finds himself watching a basketball game on television. So why not continue doing what he has been paid to do for most of the past 45 years, which is evaluate NBA prospects?

VS. NEW JERSEY NETS* WHEN: Tonight, 7:35.* WHERE: Capital Centre.* TV/RADIO: HTS and WBAL-AM 1090.* OUTLOOK: The Bullets (20-27) are hurting, as guards Darrell Walker and Haywoode Workman are out of the lineup with injuries. Fill-in Clinton Smith has been signed to a 10-day contract and played quite well in Philadelphia last night, handling the ball with confidence. Harvey Grant led the team with 24 points last night, but didn't score in the crucial fourth quarter. The Nets (14-33) are led by Reggie Theus and rookie Derrick Coleman.

Weak schedule spares them Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel The Nets will be spared the infamy because of the refuse that accompanies New Jersey at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Friday, for example, the Wizards arrive at the swamp, packing neither heat nor Gilbert Arenas. Two games beyond that remain against Washington, which likely will be further deconstructed by the trading deadline. Sunday, there is the first of two remaining games against the 76ers, coached by a coach who was dumped by those same Wizards in the offseason.

New Jersey Nets vs. San Antonio Spurs Best of seven; *-if necessary San Antonio leads series 1-0 TV: Chs. 2, 7 Game 1: San Ant. 101, N.J. 89 Today: at San Ant., 8:30 p.m. Sunday: at N.J., 8:30 p.m. Wednesday: at N.J., 8:30 p.m. *June 13:at N.J., 8:30 p.m. *June 15:at San Ant., 8:30 p.m. *June 18: at San Ant., 8:30 p.m.

RICHFIELD, Ohio -- Mark Price scored 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, including 10 of Cleveland's final 11, as the Cavaliers overcame a 17-point halftime deficit and beat the New Jersey Nets, 116-112, last night.Cleveland outscored the Nets, 62-41, in the second half after trailing, 71-54, at halftime.Price gave the Cavaliers the lead for good at 112-110, driving around Mookie Blaylock for a layup with 37 seconds left. Price, 24-for-24 from the free-throw line this season, sealed it with four free throws in the final 10 seconds.

Quote: "George [Steinbrenner] offered him $7 million? I'd better go back in there. The good thing about him turning it down is that money's still available." -- Yankees manager Joe Torre on reports that YankeeNets, the new merged entity of the Yankees and NBA's New Jersey Nets, had offered Phil Jackson $7 million a year to coach the Nets and were rejectedIt's a fact: Mickey Callaway is the 19th pitcher Tampa Bay has used this season and the 10th starter.Who's hot: The White Sox's Magglio Ordonez is 6-for-8 in the two games against the Cubs.

Drazen Petrovic, the New Jersey Nets' 28-year-old guard and leading scorer, was killed in an automobile accident last night in Germany, according to his father.Reached by telephone at his home in Croatia, Jole Petrovic confirmed reports of his son's death.But there were conflicting reports of exactly how Petrovic had died. Paul Silas, a Nets assistant coach, said he had heard that Petrovic and his girlfriend, who lives in Germany, were killed instantly when their automobile ran into the back of a truck.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New Jersey Nets have reached an agreement on terms with No. 2 overall draft pick Kenny Anderson, and the point guard from Georgia Tech might be in uniform in time for tonight's home opener against the Miami Heat.Nets vice president and general manager Willis Reed confirmed yesterday afternoon that the talks, stalled until Monday, had heated up and "we're close to a deal for somewhere between what [No. 1 pick] Larry Johnson and [No. 3 pick] Billy Owens got."Sources indicated there was similar optimism in the Anderson camp, though agent Richard Howell did not return phone calls to his Atlanta office yesterday.

Opponent: New Jersey NetsSite: USAir Arena, LandoverTime: 7:30TV/Radio: HTS/WTEM (570 AM)Outlook: The Bullets lost to Philadelphia, 98-97, Wednesday after winning their first two games. The Nets, on the other hand, opened the season with three straight losses, then beat the Chicago Bulls, 110-109, in East Rutherford, N.J., on Wednesday. The Nets, who were 4-1 last season against the Bullets, have first-year coach Butch Beard calling the shots. G Kenny Anderson, whose shot won Wednesday's game, and F Derrick Coleman lead the Nets, but the rest of the team is inconsistent.

The New Jersey Nets were pounded into NBA infamy Wednesday night, falling 117-101 to the Mavericks for their 18th straight loss to start the season. The Mavs made 17 of 19 shots and opened a 27-point lead in a nearly flawless second quarter, burying the Nets early. The Nets passed the 1988-89 Heat and 1999 Clippers, who both dropped their first 17 games. New Jersey's next chance to end the streak comes Friday at home against the Bobcats. • Allen Iverson signed a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the 76ers three years after their acrimonious split led to his trade.

Devin Harris hit a lunging half-court shot at the buzzer and the host New Jersey Nets ended a season-high five-game losing streak with a 98-96 victory over the slumping Philadelphia 76ers last night. With players from both teams surrounding the scorer's table, the referees watched replays of Harris' shot for about two or three minutes before signaling the basket was good. Seconds earlier, the 76ers (27-28) seemingly had nailed down the victory when Andre Iguodala made the second of two free throws to give them a one-point lead with 1.8 seconds to play.

After his New Jersey Nets opened the season by beating the Washington Wizards, 95-85, behind Vince Carter's 21 points, coach Lawrence Frank praised all of his players and talked about how guys who didn't even get in helped by being "supportive." Sure, Coach. Eventually, Frank got around to acknowledging last night what everyone knows about these new-look Nets, saying, "Vince was the hub for us." Carter - whose teammates elected him the Nets' captain, Frank announced before the game - scored 15 in the second half.

WASHINGTON - The Washington Wizards' season has been too sad to label any particular defeat the most heartbreaking, but last night's 103-99 overtime loss to the New Jersey Nets was especially deflating. The Wizards (23-52), in their first home game after a five-game Western swing, surrendered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to the Nets, scoring just one basket in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter. "We just weren't good enough in the end to win the game," said Washington coach Eddie Jordan, a former Nets assistant.

Bruce C. Ratner, the Cleveland-born developer who wants to move the New Jersey Nets to an arena in downtown Brooklyn, reached tentative agreement yesterday to acquire the team for $300 million, defeating a similar offer by Charles Kushner and Sen. Jon S. Corzine. "We're in the final stages of negotiating an agreement with Bruce Ratner," said Edwin Stier, president of Community Youth Organization, the Nets' ownership group. "The contract terms have been finalized, and we're putting the paperwork together."

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Tony Parker wasn't even born when the American Basketball Association, the league that gave birth to the San Antonio Spurs and New Jersey Nets, went under. And given that he is a native of France, he likely never heard that the old ABA was famous for its offense. Thankfully for San Antonio, Parker was around to bail out the Spurs last night with the kind of point guard play that would have made James Silas proud. Parker scored 26 points and dished out six assists in a 84-79 win in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, giving San Antonio a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Bruce C. Ratner, the Cleveland-born developer who wants to move the New Jersey Nets to an arena in downtown Brooklyn, reached tentative agreement yesterday to acquire the team for $300 million, defeating a similar offer by Charles Kushner and Sen. Jon S. Corzine. "We're in the final stages of negotiating an agreement with Bruce Ratner," said Edwin Stier, president of Community Youth Organization, the Nets' ownership group. "The contract terms have been finalized, and we're putting the paperwork together."

New Jersey Nets vs. San Antonio Spurs Best of seven; *-if necessary San Antonio leads series 1-0 TV: Chs. 2, 7 Game 1: San Ant. 101, N.J. 89 Today: at San Ant., 8:30 p.m. Sunday: at N.J., 8:30 p.m. Wednesday: at N.J., 8:30 p.m. *June 13:at N.J., 8:30 p.m. *June 15:at San Ant., 8:30 p.m. *June 18: at San Ant., 8:30 p.m.

SAN ANTONIO - This year's NBA Finals matchup, the first between two survivors of the late, lamented American Basketball Association, promises a return to a simpler period, to a time of Afro hairdos, platform shoes and the disco inferno. With the New Jersey Nets and San Antonio Spurs around for this year's championship series, the nation can be reminded of the free-wheeling days of the ABA, where the red, white and blue basketball was the weapon of choice, a 120-point game wasn't an anomaly but a way of life, and a team folded before every game.