The Nets ended the first season of the Mikhail Prokhorov/Avery Johnson/Billy King era with 24-58 record after a tough, hard-fought 97-92 loss to Chicago Bulls last night.

The Nets doubled last year’s win total but still have plenty of work to do to become not only a playoff team, but a championship contender as Prokhorov promised. The next phase of that process begins now, but here’s a look back at that first year.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Naturally, if Deron Williams would have been with the Nets all season, it would have been him. He proved that in his 12 games as a Net. But for the duration of the season, it was Kris Humphries. He did it all for the Nets in terms of defense, dirty work, physical play and rebounding and finished the season with career-high averages of 10.0

The last couple of weeks of this season have felt a little like last year. The Nets have been decimated by injuries and have lost 14 of 16 games heading into Wednesday's finale against the Bulls.

But this season has been different. The Nets have doubled their win total (24) and are in a better place than at this point last season.

First of all, the team didn’t have a clean-up day last year. The players left Miami after the finale and went their separate ways after one of the most dysfunctional and frustrating seasons in NBA history. Many of them didn’t fly back to New Jersey. They couldn’t wait to get rid of last season.

This season, everyone is flying back from Chicago, doing their exit interviews Thursday with general manager Billy King and coach Avery Johnson, and

NEWARK, N.J. – You could tell the Nets wanted this game – for themselves and for their fans.

This was their home finale and it was a difficult fadeaway jump shot by D.J. Augustin with 1.1 seconds left that ultimately decided the 105-103 Charlotte win. But it didn’t come down to that tough shot by Augustin over Lopez. When you lose a game by two points there are so many plays that contribute.

You can point to some poor defense, bad shot selection and an inability to finish inside. And just once you would like to see the Nets deliver a hard foul when someone is driving to the basket instead of just letting the guy score or reaching at him, and giving him a three-point play opportunity.

That happened too much in this game that like the Raptors game the night before wound

TORONTO – For all of you suffering Nets’ fans, keep telling yourselves there are only two games remaining.

A season that opened with anticipation – a new owner, home arena, coach, general manager and essentially a new roster – and started with some promise as the Nets won their first two games, is ending miserably.

The Nets have doubled their win total from last season, but they lost for the 13th time in 15 games, dropping a 99-92 decision to Toronto in a battle of attrition Sunday.

When the game started, the Nets had 10 healthy bodies, but lost backup point guard Ben Uzoh in the fourth period with a bruised right knee and then newly signed guard Mario West to a separated shoulder. The Nets already are without point guards Deron Williams and Sundiata Gaines.

NEWARK, N.J. – The Nets’ final game this season against the Knicks lacked so much of the appeal their prior one did. Three announcements made early Friday morning took the luster out of the game and turned the attention elsewhere.

The first and biggest one came from the Nets as they revealed All-Star point guard Deron Williams would need surgery to clean out fragments and scar tissue in his right wrist and his season was over. Then Avery Johnson said Kris Humphries wouldn’t play because of his right foot injury, and his season was over.

At around the same time in Westchester County, the Knicks ruled out Amar’e Stoudemire because of a sprained left ankle.

There still was Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Brook Lopez and a near full house at the Prudential Center,

Four games remain in the Nets’ season and for some players their Nets careers, but that’s a story for a different day. For today, it’s all about tomorrow. Of the Final Four, this is the game that matters most to the Nets.

We’re not saying they should take off their last three. The Nets should play every game the same. But there’s no denying Nets-Knicks IV has different significance, especially since New York has dominated the season series.

The Knicks have won the first three games - including last week's ESPN-televised game at the Garden - and are averaging 112 points in three victories. It doesn’t take a genius to know the Nets are going to have to play better defense if they’re going to get a game against the Knicks this season.

Defense:

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Brook Lopez was unstoppable. Never mind that he still wasn’t a presence on the boards. The Nets’ big man was a giant man in the middle on offense and was taking advantage of his size against the Pistons.

Lopez appeared to be on his way to a 50-point night, should have had mid 40s easily and the Nets should have enjoyed what would have been one of their most gratifying wins of the season instead of a 116-109 loss.

But the ball stopped going to Lopez. Just stopped. The Pistons went zone, fronted Lopez, did everything to make sure he didn’t get the ball, but the Nets still have to get the ball to Lopez and let him operate. This was a night when Lopez was operating.

He took the ball from the baseline and went inside and scored. He tried to dunk

NEWARK, N.J. – Deron Williams has no idea the pain the Nets went through last season. He’s feeling his own pain – in his wrist and from not being a part of the postseason.

But he had a great moment as a Net that for the moment made the pain in his wrist go away and made everyone realize how far away from last year this team is.

Williams’ strained right wrist was feeling weak, yet he played 43 minutes, delivered a career-high tying 21 assists and scored the game-winning basket on a step-back jump shot with 1.7 seconds left. The score gave the Nets a much-needed 107-105 victory that was significant for many reasons.

It gave them 24 victories, which is twice as many as they had last season when they finished with a 12-70 mark. It ended a six-game losing streak. It

The Nets finally showed some of the spirit and pride coach Avery Johnson hoped to see from them, but it came after LeBron James and the Miami Heat had built a 21-point cushion.

The Nets got within six, but the Heat were never really threatened. Even though Miami missed so many shots inside and free throws that allowed the Nets to hang around, when the Heat needed a bucket, James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh delivered or made the pass that led to the score.

That’s a luxury the Nets wish they had, so many teams wish they had it – multiple stars who can make plays. But if there is anything the Nets should take out of their 108-94 loss, it was that they came back, something they didn’t do against the Rockets or the 76ers.

They came back with a small lineup and with Travis