POINTING FORWARD: When the Knicks lost to the Nets at Barclays Center 15 days ago, Jason Kidd was sidelined with back spasms. The veteran guard, however, will be on the court tonight, looking to help the Knicks get their first victory in Brooklyn and hand the Nets their fifth straight loss. (NBAE/Getty Images)
The Knicks have whipped the Heat twice, won a rugged road game in San Antonio and are off to their best 20-game start since the 1995-96 season. They have soared 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2000-01 season, are the NBA’s lone unbeaten team at home and own the best record in the Eastern Conference at 15-5.
What the Knicks haven’t done yet is win a game in the borough of Brooklyn.
Tonight the Knicks get their second chance against the Nets at Barclays Center. And they have a better chance this time, with Jason Kidd planning to be there to haunt his former team and perhaps not allow Nets point guard Deron Williams to be the beast of Brooklyn.
When the slumping Nets (11-8), who have lost four straight, beat the Knicks in overtime 15 days ago to take over first place briefly in the Atlantic, Kidd was laid up with back spasms and starting point guard Raymond Felton had one of the worst shooting nights of his career.
“We’re ready, we will be ready,’’ Carmelo Anthony said. “That first game, we didn’t think they did anything to beat us. We kind of beat ourselves. We have that in the back of our minds.’’
It was a great night for Brooklyn, with even the fan count 60-40 in the Nets’ favor. Now the Knicks lead the Nets by 3 1/2 games and this whole move to Brooklyn may turn out to be slightly bad timing if the Knicks, who have won six of seven games, overshadow the Nets and break a 40-year championship drought.
Kidd’s savviness never made it to Brooklyn that night. It was the first of four straight games he missed.
“I don’t wish [back spasms] on anyone,’’ Kidd said.
Now he is nursing a welt on his head from Denver’s Ty Lawson’s elbow Sunday that had him wearing a hockey helmet during second-half warm-ups for comical and compression purposes. Kidd, who has been playing off the ball, helped direct Sunday’s victory over Denver as the floor general, continuing his renaissance season at age 39.
“They’re looking to stop a streak and we’re looking to get better,’’ Kidd said. “We’re just looking at it as for us to be complete team, we have to find a way to win on the road. That’s the only thing we’re looking at.’’
The Knicks will be without Marcus Camby again, but on Tuesday morning Rasheed said he would play. Brook Lopez returned to Nets practice yesterday, but was ruled out for the game this morning.
But Knicks center Tyson Chandler has more than made up for any Knicks’ big-man shortage. He scored a career-high 27 points in the Brooklyn game and is coming off another solid 15-point, 12-rebound outing against Denver.
The All-Star candidate is now averaging a fraction off a double-double — 12.8 and 9.9 rebounds — while shooting 71 percent.
“We felt like we played well enough to win,’’ Chandler said. “But obviously we didn’t make the plays down the stretch. It’s a divisional game so it’s a very big one for us.’’
Felton shot 3 of 19 at Barclays, winded by the extra minutes he played in Kidd’s absence. With Felton still soldiering through a bruised left thumb, coach Mike Woodson gave the point guard duties to Kidd down the stretch Sunday and he rallied the Knicks from eight points down early in the fourth quarter despite playing his fourth game in five nights. Kidd and the Knicks were working on little sleep because of flight delays that got them back in New York at 5 a.m. Sunday morning.
“He’s out there trying to win,’’ Anthony said. “We kind of forget he’s 40 years old.’’
The Knicks lead the league in fewest turnovers and Kidd and Felton are each ranked in the top 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio.
“We were moving the ball and when we move the ball, we always get a lot of wide open looks,’’ Kidd said. “Just lucky to be in that situation for the last 17 years.’’
Kidd was the best player in the metropolitan area during his glory days with the Nets. Perhaps the future Hall of Famer never got the credit he deserved in Jersey and sort of resented the Knicks’ status. The Nets didn’t get to Brooklyn fast enough for Kidd. He is a Knick tonight in his first taste of Brooklyn and the credits are rolling.