A shovel will go into the ground today in Brooklyn. It’s probably not the same one the Nets have used to bury themselves, though.

The Nets need that one because they continue to throw dirt on themselves.

This may sound crazy, but the Nets played a winnable game last night here against the Mavericks. It was winnable because Dirk Nowitzki couldn’t have been more invisible, winnable because the Nets were rolling early and led by as many 18 points.

But the Mavericks have too many other players, including someone named Jason Kidd, and they just weren’t going to have their 12-game winning streak end against the Nets. Instead, Dallas won for the 13th straight time, beating the Nets 96-87 last night.

If you break it down, it was similar to many of the Nets’ losses, including

BY AL IANNAZZONE

Special to YESNetwork.com

The All-Star break is over. The Nets returned to practice today in Charlotte, where they open the “second half” of their season and against a team they have beaten this season.

The biggest Nets’ stories after the break and before the season ends are what happens with Rod Thorn, Kiki Vandeweghe, the Russian billionaire’s takeover, the trade deadline and whether they break they record for fewest wins or most losses – however you want to look at it.

After the season, it will be who’s their next coach, next general manager, where they end up in the lottery, what they do in the draft, what trades they make and what free agents they can get.

But the near future is easier to talk about and predict.

By now you

The Nets are in the midst of the best week of their season: they can’t lose a game, and some actual excitement is being generated by the team.

Nothing has actually happened. The Nets haven’t made a trade, hired anyone or fired anyone. But there are plenty of things being written and said about their future, which once again seems bright.

Honestly, no one knows what’s going to happen, but the biggest thing is Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov will be the owner in the near future, and he’s going to open his wallet and use all of his resources to be a success story in America.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski heads the list of candidates to become the Nets’ next head coach and could be given a dual role as coach and general manager to try to entice him to leave

The Nets have one win in 2010. There have been more snowstorms in the area in the last two weeks than Nets’ victories since the calendar turned.

There also have been as many people reportedly expressing interest in coaching the Nets as there have been Nets’ wins this year.

You see where we’re going with this. 20 games in 2010 and 19 losses –- that’s exactly how the Nets opened the season, too: 1-19.

Is there any relief in sight?

Yes. There are several things, and it starts right here, during All-Star Weekend.

First, the players get a chance to get away from everything and not focus on all the negative. They can rest or work out to stay as sharp as possible and return with a new attitude. All this negativity is festering and the players need to get rid