MIAMI -- You could feel the Nets' pain after this crushing defeat. They'll get over it before the fans do, but you know this one hurt.

It hurt more than the three-point loss in Philadelphia when the Nets didn't get a last shot off. And more than the three-point loss at home against Philadelphia when the Nets didn't get a last shot off.

They probably hoped the same fate that had befallen them would do in the Heat. But the Nets have neither that luck nor someone by the name of Dwyane Wade on their team.

Wade almost didn't get a shot off as he fumbled the ball, but he picked it up and shot and made a 26-foot three from the right wing with one-tenth of a second left that handed the Nets an absolutely suffocating 81-80 defeat last night.

Chris Douglas-Roberts, who was under the basket and saw the ball fall through the net, said this was the most disappointing loss he's ever experienced, considering the situation. We asked again, because he played on the Memphis team that came this-close to winning the National Title two years ago, and he said ever.

The reason it was so tough is because the Nets are playing with just eight guys. They're fighting and battling and coming so close to winning and they just can't pull out these games.

"I just feel so bad for our guys," coach Lawrence Frank said. "Our guys were battling their tails off. I just feel horrible for our guys."

Frank also said he's sick to his heart after this. He doesn't feel bad for himself at 0-10. He feels bad for his team because of what they're doing without reaping any rewards.

But if you sit back and think about everything that happened in this game, it's almost fitting that the game went this way because of all the Nets have experienced.

They lost their backup swingman (Jarvis Hayes) in the first game, their lone All-Star and starting point guard (Devin Harris) after the second game, their starting power forward (Yi Jianlian) in the fourth game, their starting small forward (Chris Douglas-Roberts) after the fifth game, their starting shooting guard (Courtney Lee) in their sixth game.

In that sixth game, they had the ball knocked away when they were going for the game-tying three. Then in the eighth game, the Nets threw the ball away before they could take the game-tying three and lost. Then before the tenth game, their current starting small forward (Bobby Simmons) left the team for personal reasons.

Then you get to this game, and the Nets got an unexpected and much-needed boost from Sean Williams, who has been persona non grata even with all these injuries, and he nearly leads them to the win with 12 points and a huge blocked shot with about 35 seconds left and the Nets up three.

But this is where you know the basketball gods don't want the Nets to win, that they wouldn't have any luck if not for bad luck.

Quentin Richardson banked in a left-wing three that tied the game. He banked it in. Douglas-Roberts, who was guarding Richardson, called it "ridiculous."

Then, after Brook Lopez tips in the go-ahead bucket with 4.1 seconds left, Wade delivers the shot on a broken play after losing the ball.

"Yeah, it's something we did, somebody did," Douglas-Roberts said about the basketball gods frowning upon the Nets. "We've got to look in a mirror and figure what we did. But in all seriousness, I've played a lot of games and the situation we're in and the outcome of this game is probably the worst feeling I've had playing basketball from little league to now."
 
"As much as we're getting better it feels like we're building up," Lopez said. "We're right there. It's brimming over and we're going to break through soon."

The Nets couldn't have played any better defense, and they couldn't have played a harder, more complete game against a quality team. They held Wade without a basket for the entire second half until the game-winning three.

Great players make great plays. But the Nets gave up too many second-chance points -- nine in the last 4:05, including the Richardson three. Those are killers. The Nets win if not for that.

But that's the way this season is going for them. They can't afford any mistakes, but they also need to have a little luck shine down upon them once in a while, something other than bad.

Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)