Hornets 84, Nets 82: As much as the Nets appreciate the start to the season Antoine Wright has had, they probably don't want him taking their final shot at the buzzer. But Wright did just that after starting for Vince Carter -- out with a sprained ankle -- and the result wasn't pretty. Carter's injury will have him out the always mysterious "indefinitely," and the Nets will have to find offense elsewhere. Richard Jefferson (32......

There's one member of the Mets that is up for the Hall of Fame today. The Mascot Hall of Fame, that is. The round-headed ball of a mascot is trailing by about 5,500 votes in the race for popularity on the Mascot Hall of Fame website. He trails The Coyote, the mascot of the San Antonio Spurs. The Post pulls out all the stops to make sure Mr. Met is the top vote getter.......

Mr. Met's hat may be cocked, but he's not cocky after being nominated for the online entity that is the Mascot Hall of Fame. Mets organization officials said the usually mute mascot remained speechless at the honor. Induction is not a sure thing. Other candidates, which will be voted for online, include the Coyote for the San Antonio Spurs, Hugo the Hornet for the New Orleans Hornets, the Oriole bird for the Baltimore Orioles,......

Rangers 6 Flyers 4: The bottom line is they got the two points. Yes, they almost threw away a big lead and yes, they made a lot of mental mistakes, but they got the two points. Henrik Lundqvist rebounded nicely from Tuesday’s shellacking, stopping 33-of-37 shots while Jagr netted two and Prucha got his 20th. The win leaves the Rangers in the seventh spot with four games left. Their margin for error remains razor-thin with......

Senators 3, Rangers 2: Losing a game after holding a 2-0 lead in the second period is hard enough, but when the opponents' go-ahead goal touches your stick last before going in the net, it especially burns. That's what happened Tuesday. Marek Malik deflected a shot past Henrik Lundqvist in the third period, ending a seven-game points streak for the Rangers. This was their 21st one-goal loss this season, which could be bad luck but......

Hornets 111, Nets 107: It may not be the last game Vince Carter plays for the Nets, but if it is, Carter got his money's worth. Too bad New Jersey didn't. Carter scored 46 points in a loss at home as trade rumors swirl ahead of Thursday's deadline. Jason Kidd, the other prime candidate to be moved, had only 6 points on 2-of-14 shooting. It's at least even money both stay put, but the Nets......

+ City air unsafe for mosquitoes, asthmatics as the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene continues its shock and awe bombardment of the West Nile carrying buggers. Helicopters will be spraying parts of the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island with pesticide through Friday morning. Only one person has been infected with the disease this year compared with 14 last year. + Anorexic ladies, we feel your pain: skinny dudes have societal pressures too. + Overweight......

The best thing Isiah Thomas could do right now is put on a uniform. That would prevent him from making anymore dumb trades and give the Knicks the point guard they so desperately need. Saturday, the Knicks fell to the Hornets 109-98 with Stephon Marbury missing his third consecutive game. With Marbury out and Antonio Davis suspended, Larry Brown tried a new starting lineup. Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson were in the backcourt with Maurice......

The very average Chicago Bulls pulled out of town last night with their second "W" over the Knicks in 3 days. What is amazing about this is that both games were literally lost at the buzzer (in fact, Ben Gordon's runner put the Bulls ahead with .1 second to play) due to poor Knicks play. Yesterday, NY actually had an eight-point lead with just over three minutes left, yet somehow managed to stop scoring and......

It was a terrible night for fans of New York hoops. Even Isiah Thomas couldn't buy a piece of good basketball news. The Nets suffered a severe blow to their comeback hopes when it was announced yesterday that Richard Jefferson will be out with an injury for the remainder of the season. Jefferson ruptured ligaments in his left wrist, which requires surgery followed by four months of time in a cast or in physical therapy.......

After an embarrassing drubbing by LeBron James and his scary facemask on national television Saturday, the Knicks ended a 4-game skid and returned to the .500 mark with a 113-105 victory over the Portland Trailblazers on Sunday. While Gothamist isn't sure if Portland fans came en masse to the Garden wearing plaid shirts, 70's Brawny paper towel guy hair, and mustaches, we'd certainly like to think this was the case. The shooting was the story,......

- The Rangers have a "successful" draft with a lockout looming. - Sebastian Telfair is ripped by a rival's dad; is he Mr. Hype? - Willis Reed goes to the Hornets. - Mike Tyson is ready to fight at the end of July. - The Mets seem like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde - Jason Kidd has surgery on his bad knee. - A new stadium! No, not those stadiums - a soccer stadium.......

Yesterday, the New Orleans Hornets hired Willis Reed for their vice president of basketball operations. In his position, he will assist GM Allan Bristow and director of personnel Jeff Bower when it comes to roster decisions. Reed, enshrined at the Hall of Fame since 1982, led the Knicks to championships in 1970 and 1973; the title in 1970 was the first for the Knicks franchise and one of the most memorable performances in NBA History.......

Last week former Nets coach Byron Scott landed on his feet as the new head coach of the New Orleans Hornets. While doing some research on an upcoming story, Gothamist ran across this cloumn from the always knowledgeable John Hollinger on why Scott shouldn't expect his stay in the Big Easy to be very long. Hollinger cites the Hornets move from the Eastern Conference to the superior West as a major reason that Scott is......