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The Nets still were practicing on the main court at Barclays Center yesterday, and preparing for tonight’s scheduled season opener against the Knicks, when the news that the game would be postponed broke.
Suddenly, months of hype and anticipation about of the return of major professional sports to Brooklyn with a game between the two New York franchises disappeared in the wake of the devastating impact Hurricane Sandy has left on the city and the surrounding area.
“The right thing to do,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said after the team finished its practice yesterday. “We all would have loved to play, to bring, hopefully, the people that have power or some of the fans that could have made it to the building, we would have loved to have brought them some sense of entertainment or joy or whatever.
“But, at the same time, all of the people who were responsible for making this decision, it was the right thing to do.”
The NBA initially had announced Tuesday night that the game would proceed as scheduled. But Mayor Bloomberg said at a news conference yesterday he had pushed the league to postpone the game because of the impact of the storm on the city, and in particular to the mass transit system.
Amar’e Stoudemire provided a prime example of some of the travel woes fans might have faced. He posted a photo on Instagram of his Range Rover up to its door handles in water in a West Village luxury penthouse garage.
Though his team will now be opening up Saturday night against the Raptors instead of against their intra-city rivals, Nets general manager Billy King said the opener won’t lose any significance.
“It will be special,” King said. “We have 82 games. We’re going to play 41 home games in this building. So when we do get to play, it will be special. The first one, when we do play, the fans will be here.
“It may not be the Knicks, but it will still be a basketball game. And I think it will be important, because it’ll be the Brooklyn Nets’ first regular season game in this building.”
Several Nets were impacted directly by the storm, particularly the ones in New Jersey who live near the team’s practice facility there. Several of them were without power, including Johnson, and had moved into hotels for the time being.
“I couldn’t deal with [having no power],” forward Andray Blatche said.
But one player, rookie guard Tyshawn Taylor, wasn’t at practice, and hadn’t been able to leave his Hoboken apartment since the storm began because of floodwaters surrounding it.
“We’re hoping that the National Guard can get him out and he can be here tomorrow,” King said.
Deron Williams said he had spent the past two days with his family at their place in lower Manhattan, where they have been without power.
“It was hard to get going [in practice] because I’ve been sitting inside a dark house for the last 2 1⁄2 days,” he said. “It takes time to get your body adjusted and get moving.”
But now, after spending so much time focusing on the Knicks, the Nets will have to switch their focus to the Raptors, Saturday’s opponent. That’s something that Johnson doesn’t expect his team will have trouble doing, after all of the time and energy and focus that has been placed on preparing for what would have been tonight’s opener.
“We’ve been spending a week preparing for the Knicks,” Johnson said. “I think my guys, they get tired of hearing about Novak and Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton and Chandler.
“Now we switch to our next opponent, and we try to get ready and do the best we can, and if we’re gonna open up on Saturday, hopefully the fans that show up Saturday, hopefully we’ll give them something to smile about.”
tbontemps@nypost.com