The Nets finally had their enough-is-enough moment and they think it could be the start of something.

Time will tell about that, but for 48 minutes last night, the Nets looked like an NBA team. It’s been a long time since they have.

They showed heart and played with pride, passion and purpose. They played defense, withstood runs, hit shots and showed some mental and physical toughness.

The Nets finally put all of that together and the result was a 103-87 victory over the Clippers that not only ended an 11-game losing streak but also gave them their first victory of 2010.

“We just made sure that every play, we compete,” Chris Douglas-Roberts said. “When we compete, this is the NBA, any team can beat any team. But we competed the whole game and I think that was

The Nets are doing something never thought possible when they were 0-18. They’re getting worse.

They’re much healthier than they were when they were losing every night earlier this season and they’re worse now. That’s not an easy thing to do.

They returned early this morning from the West Coast just totally beaten, believing there is no hope in sight and honestly there is no reason for hope. You know the numbers: 40 losses in 43 games. Even more distressing is how far they have fallen, how much they have regressed not only since Dec. 30, but since Lawrence Frank was replaced after 16 games.

But here's looking at a small sample of games before we go big picture. Over the four-game trip, the Nets allowed the opposition to shoot 55.4 percent and average 112.8 points

The Nets game started a little after 9 p.m. last night, and if you just came back from dinner or were putting your child to bed and turned on YES at about 9:25 p.m., you missed all you needed to see.

A 21-1 first-quarter Jazz run all but ended the game. There was plenty of time left, but 21-1 is tough to come back from, even if it’s in the first quarter. A 2-1 run sometimes can be hard for the Nets to answer.

But 21-1, for a team that scored 14 points in the fourth quarter the night before at Golden State and had more than 21 in just one period against the always charitable Warriors, is insurmountable and it was.

The Nets ended their four-game West trip with another demoralizing setback, No. 11 in a row and No. 40 in 43 games. The Jazz ran all over the Nets and sent them back to