BOSTON -- You could hear the noise through the walls. The screaming, the yelling, the celebrating. It sounded like a miniature rock concert. Or like someone had just won the lottery.

	Van Horn

Which is fitting in a way, seeing as the odds of winning the Pick-4 were probably better than this celebration ever happening. Not only are the New Jersey Nets headed to the NBA Finals, but the player who hit the shot to send them there, arguably the biggest and most important jumper in franchise history, was Keith Van Horn.

To those who just discovered the Nets in this series, it seems like no big deal. But those who were there in October, who followed Van Horn through the boos, the jokes and the jeers every time he dribbled off his leg or launched an airball, this is as improbable as, well, the Nets being four games away from winning the NBA title.

"For him to come up big in that situation, with everything on the line, is just great to see," said guard Kerry Kittles, Van Horn's closest friend on the team. "He took some hits this year. It wasn't easy. But man, that was huge. I was so happy for him. I couldn't have drawn it up any better myself."

Technically, Kittles did draw it up. The Nets were up three with 50 seconds remaining and the shot clock at six seconds when Kittles, hounded by Erick Strickland, put the ball on the floor and headed for the basket.

As the shot clock hit three, Kittles found himself under the basket, in the air and with nowhere to go. He was headed out of bounds but somehow zipped a pass to the top of the key, where Van Horn waited, wide, wide open.

	“	That is the shot. The one. The biggest shot in the history of the New Jersey Nets. Period. ”
		— Richard Jefferson of the Nets, on Van Horn's 3-pointer

"I had to make a play," Kittles said. "Jason (Kidd) was guarded, there wasn't a lot of room and then I saw Keith out of the corner of my eye. Thankfully I was able to make the pass."

The pass, thrown with Kittles' left hand, was right on target. With the shot clock switching from two seconds to one, Van Horn caught the ball, gathered himself and launched.

Swish.

"I knew I was going to get the shot," Van Horn said. "The history of their defense in this series was to collapse, and I knew they were going to collapse in the middle. So I took a second to visualize the shot before I took it. And then I was able to hit it."

The shot, which put the Nets up 94-88 with 49.2 seconds remaining, was the dagger of all daggers. The FleetCenter, which was deafeningly loud through much of Friday's game, fell church silent.

Everyone -- from the players to the fans to the coaches -- knew: This game was over.

"That is the biggest shot in his career, my career, Jason's career, anybody's career," Nets forward Richard Jefferson said. "That is the shot. The one. The biggest shot in the history of the New Jersey Nets. Period."

After the game, Van Horn downplayed the shot's significance, saying at that point, he didn't think the game was over. He also downplayed what it meant personally, to hit the biggest shot in team history, despite being, at one point, the easiest target for what was wrong with the Nets.

All through the season, he had been told he had no heart. He had been called Mr. Softy, for his unwillingness to play physical. (Interestingly enough, Van Horn didn't attempt a free throw until Game 4 of this series). He had been tabbed the "Good Humor Man," for the way he melted like ice cream when the game was on the line.

But in the last two games of the series, nothing could have been further from the truth. In Game 5 on Wednesday, Van Horn's two 3-pointers were the climax of a 21-1 New Jersey run. And in Game 6 Friday, his 3 was the back breaker.

"It's a great feeling. I can't really even put it into words," Van Horn said. "But it's not redemption or anything like that. I don't really care what the writers write or what people have said about my play. I never paid attention to it. And it has nothing to do with the success of our team."

How important was Van Horn to New Jersey's success? In the two games the Nets lost to the Celtics, he averaged 5.5 points per game. In the four wins, that number soared to 17.5 points per game.

"After the loss in Game 3, that's when I realized that my team needed me," Van Horn said. "And that's when I decided to play with a certain level of aggressiveness."

It worked. After the game, Van Horn could barely walk to the interview room without being stopped for congratulations. Everyone -- from FleetCenter security guards, to reporters, to even former Celtic M.L. Carr -- was there to offer a handshake and a job well done.

Ten times Van Horn was stopped. And ten times he offered an identical response, in his slow, monotone voice, "All right, thank you," he said.

He handled it like someone who had been here before. Only thing was, he hadn't, at least not in the NBA.

"I just want to soak it in," Van Horn said. "Soak it in tonight, enjoy the victory and begin preparing for the next challenge."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com.