There is nothing like a Nets-Timberwolves game as a little pre-Christmas appetizer. Too bad this isn’t 2000 when there was something to the game with Stephon Marbury going against his old team or 2003 or 2004 when both teams were good.

Instead, tomorrow the NBA’s two worst teams square off in what could be called the John Wall Bowl. Wall is the Kentucky guard everyone is projecting as the first overall pick, presuming he comes out, and someone the Nets would love to have.

You might say the Wolves don’t need any more point guards since that’s all they drafted and acquired over the summer, but you never know what they’re going to do. Timberwolves president David Kahn believes in acquiring assets

The one thing we know is this game has significance on many levels.

For one: the Nets get a chance to show if the game against the Lakers -- when they competed and played hard and believed they could win -- was a breakthrough. They need a win badly.

Another it’s a rematch of a game that set the tone for this sorry season. It may have seemed an insignificant game, but in our opinion it was huge.

These two met on opening night and our feeling is if the Nets close out that game and get win No. 1 in Game 1, this season is totally different.

They wouldn’t be .500 at this point or even close to .500 but they obviously wouldn’t have set the record for most losses to start a season, they would have a few more wins and coach Lawrence Frank might still be on the bench.

"Who’s to know? Who’s to know?" Devin Harris said. "We wouldn’t be in the record books. That’s the only thing we really can look at, but other than that who’s to know?"

If the Nets win that game, maybe they have a little confidence, find a way to beat the Bobcats less than a week later and then the Sixers and on and on. Little by little after that Minnesota game, the Nets played not to lose instead of to win. When the snowball rolls down the hill you know what happens and you saw what happened.

Injuries mounted, losses mounted and that’s all this season has been about for the Nets. And in the opener, it wasn’t just the Nets losing, it was the way they lost.

Up 19 in the third period and 16 around the midway point of the fourth period, the Nets had this game won. All they needed to take a stand. Instead, the Nets crumbled under a pile of mistakes, turnovers, missed free throws, missed layups and a free-throw violation.

They lost at the buzzer after Damien Wilkins picked up an offensive rebound and hit a short shot at the buzzer to give the Wolves the 95-93 win.

You can point to the Nets' lack of chemistry from them not playing together, due to all the injuries in camp or a lack of experience because Frank had mostly young guys on the floor. But the Wolves had young guys, too, and were led by rookie Jonny Flynn, a player the Nets coveted, in the fourth period.

Flynn didn’t show a lack of experience. He showed a mettle the Nets knew he possessed and something they needed on this night and still need.

Had the Wolves lost that game, they would have been the Nets. Minnesota dropped its next 15 games. The Wolves could have been the ones trying to avoid the worst start in NBA history.

You can ask: if the Wolves won the opener why didn’t they win a few more games like you propose the Nets would have?

The Wolves play out West, play tougher teams, had a much tougher schedule than the Nets. Plus, as we stated earlier, if the Nets would have closed out the game, a game they dominated, it would have carried more weight.

That takes us to tomorrow when the Nets without Chris Douglas-Roberts but with Yi Jianlian playing for the first time since Nov. 2, play these same Wolves.

Minnesota comes in with Kevin Love healthy. They’re playing better, but this is a winnable game for the Nets, and the way they’ve played you can’t say that often.

They’ve had two days to add some plays on offense and make some much-needed improvements on defense.

This game won’t make-or-break the Nets’ season. That happened the first time they met. But this is a chance for the Nets show they’ve grown from the Laker game and the last two days of work.

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