NET NOTES

Lawrence Frank has turned to history, the dictionary, tales of the circus, virtually anything imaginable to motivate the Nets. Tonight facing a Game 5 on the road in a best-of-seven series tied at 2-2, the Nets coach knows what he’ll use for motivation.

Nothing.

“If we can’t be motivated right now with the series tied 2-2? The key to motivation is to have motivational players,” said Frank. “And that’s what we have. It’s nothing I have to say. We have motivated guys who have a great deal of passion.”

* Jason Kidd on the Pistons feeding off fans at the Palace here: “They’re one of the best. They have great fan support. They’ve been to the playoffs, to the championships. They’ve won championships, so they know how important it is to have fan support. It’s one of the toughest places to play at.”

* Stu Jackson, NBA executive VP of Operations and a Team USA selection committee member, acknowledged Kenyon Martin was approached regarding his interest in a spot on the Olympic team, but declined the offer.

“We approached Kenyon to gauge his interest,” Jackson said. “And he declined because of other issues he had to deal with and we understand.”

Martin, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, did not want to be away from negotiations. “I don’t know what my future is. That’s the most important thing. If it [contract] was taken care of last year, I’d be playing,” Martin said.

* Rasheed Wallace (plantar fasciitis) is limping, Chauncey Billups (back) is wincing, but Frank doesn’t care; he’ll approach tonight as if the Pistons were 100 percent: “Once they step on the floor, those injuries have a way of forgetting about themselves, at least for 48 minutes.”

* Richard Jefferson on the change in the Nets: “Once we did a good job in the first half of Game 2, all we did was repeat those performances in Games 3 and 4.”