MELO OUT, REGGIE! Carmelo Anthony (7) lunges to block a move by the Nets’ Deron Williams as Brooklyn’s Reggie Evans grabs Anthony’s arm during the Knicks’ 100-86 win on Dec. 19 at Madison Square Garden, the third of four games between the city rivals this season. (Reuters)
Granted, this hasn’t received the universal attention as say, Earth’s end by Mayan calendar calculations, but there is a somewhat rare occurrence going on locally: The Knicks and the Nets are playing well in the same season.
For years, when the Knicks were good, the Nets stunk. When Jason Kidd brought his act to New Jersey and the Nets became postseason regulars, the Knicks were awful. And there were those wonderful years when both teams were garbage.
But now, with the Nets playing well in Brooklyn with an owner who probably would like to purchase Long Island for overflow parking and the Knicks realistically envisioning a long postseason, the area adversaries have an intriguing rivalry. The final of four regular-season installments of the series goes off today in a Martin Luther King Day 3:30 p.m. start at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s definitely a rivalry game. We don’t like them, they don’t like us,” Knicks guard J.R. Smith. “I like it like that. We should keep it like that. We especially can’t just let them come into our house and get a ‘W.’ That’s the main focus.”
The Knicks are back from their successful one-game trip to London. The Nets (24-16) are streaking, 10-2 under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo.
The Knicks (25-13) won two of the three previous games with the Nets, helped by Carmelo Anthony averaging 37 points and shooting .535 in the three games. The first-place Knicks, virtually to a man and coach, insist they will see a different Nets team, a team now only two games back (three in the loss column) in the Atlantic Division.
“Brooklyn is playing extremely well. P.J. has got those guys going. It was just a matter of time. Deron [Williams] is making shots. He’s playing at a high level. we’re going to have our hands full,” Kidd said.
“They’re winning. So obviously they’re doing something right,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “In watching them on tape, they’ve got a lot of good things. I said this from Day 1, I like the makeup of their ballclub.”
The Knicks anticipate another wild atmosphere — especially back at the Garden. And while Amar’e Stoudemire gets his first crack at the Nets this season, having played only the last eight games, he saw and felt the prior insanity.
“I don’t know if you can top Game 1 [the Nets won at Brooklyn in overtime],” Stoudemire said. “The atmosphere was out of control. The expectation of that game just was out the roof. So I don’t know if you can top that, but I think both teams are playing well and it’s going to be a great, great battle.
“We won the last two games against those guys, we want to continue that streak. I know they’re going to be extremely motivated coming into the Garden.”
While the Nets have refueled and appear to be a different team, the Knicks are different: They have Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert back from the infirmary. Shumpert should start a second straight game with his minutes evaluated beforehand.
So the final meeting, foolishly scheduled for January, is today. Yeah, the Nets have been going well, but the Knicks are more concerned about themselves.
“[The Nets are] a good team. We always knew that. It’s just a matter of us how we’re going to come in and play defensively,” Smith said.
“Honestly I haven’t even paid attention to them. I’ve been so focused on our team more than anything, just trying to get our stuff together. We’ve given up so many games at home in the last two, three weeks, that’s unacceptable for us.”