"What an entertaining first two quarters in New Jersey." These words were uttered by Phoenix Suns announcer Tom Leander near the end of the first half Monday night.

If only he knew what was in store.

After a wild final 17 minutes that featured huge 3-pointers on both sides, shocking five-second violations and foul calls on impossible shots, Kris Humphries tipped in what would have been a game-winner just barely after the 0.0 light flashed, leaving Channing Frye's 3-pointer seconds earlier as the final points to give the Suns a 104-103 victory.

The Nets took the home floor with Deron Williams as their leader for the first time on Monday and delivered perhaps their most entertaining game of the season. Williams nearly had a double-double in the first half alone, picked up assist after assist down the stretch and, despite obviously feeling the effects of a wrist and hand injury, still led this team within a fingertip of victory.

The Nets played toe-to-toe with an above-.500 team for 53 minutes. Although they lost, that should give you an idea of where their talent level is.

They need to upgrade, but the pieces are there. They've got their unquestionable superstar (Williams), who dished out 18 assists, tying his season high that he set just two days ago. They've got their low-post building block (Brook Lopez), who led the team with 28 points and picked up his fifth double-double of the season. They've got their tenacious rebounder/hustle guy/boyfriend of a famous woman (Humphries), who led the game with 14 rebounds and was literally less than a tenth of a second late on a buzzer-beater.

And they've certainly got their 3-point specialist. With the Nets down 92-87, Anthony Morrow scored all nine Nets points -- two 3-pointers and three ice-in-his-veins free throws -- in the final 22 seconds of regulation to tie the game at 96 and send it to overtime. Morrow didn't score in the extra period, but without him the Nets don't make it there. He finished with 22 points and increased his career 3-point percentage to .455081, extending his lead over Steve Kerr for the highest career percentage in league history. His porous defense aside, $4 million per year for that is a pretty good deal.

Don't get me wrong. All of these guys except Williams are assets as much as they are players, and they're still missing some huge pieces (such as a wing who can create his own shot and any shred of a defensive interior presence). But the foundation they're building on is a solid one, and this game is proof of that.

There's no question about what Williams brings to the team. All of the Nets have been getting open looks regularly with him on the floor these past three games, and Williams has posted three double-doubles and 48(!) assists in his first three games. He also had six turnovers, but they reminded me of the turnovers LeBron James was giving up to start this season -- he's still getting acclimated to his surroundings, and his teammates are getting acclimated to him as well. A few of his turnovers were passes to spaces where a Nets player was expected to fill a lane but didn't. These things will fix themselves with time and growth.

Although Morrow tweeted "no moral victories" shortly after the game, there's a lot of good the Nets can take from Monday night. The crowd was rocking, the game was exciting and the Nets looked completely different from the team that we saw last season -- or even last week. As hard as it might be to see, this game was an excellent sign of things to come. They were less than a tenth of a second away from an exciting overtime victory. That's something the Nets can hang their hat on.

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