NBA

Avery: Knicks-Nets rivalry now stronger

After a summer of hype, the Knicks and Nets finally will face each other for the first time tonight. But, unlike next week’s season opener, tonight’s game won’t be on national television and won’t be in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center.

Instead, it’s the final preseason game for both teams, and will be played at Nassau Coliseum, one of many previous homes for the well-traveled Nets.

Nevertheless, Nets coach Avery Johnson said after yesterday’s practice though the game doesn’t count, the rivalry between the two teams already feels like it matters a little more than it used to.

“I think it [means] a little bit more to it now that we’re in Brooklyn,” he said. “I didn’t really feel it as much the last two years. I feel it a little bit now. … We’re a New York team now, so it’s a different ball game.

“I’ve gotten asked more about this quote-unquote rivalry more the last four or five months than I had the last two years.”

Though Johnson said he feels the difference, Deron Williams isn’t so sure. While the Nets point guard said he feels the excitement for opening night as he travels around the city, he’s not sure if there is a rivalry between the two franchises quite yet.

“This rivalry with them, it’s getting blown up by the media,” Williams said. “But internally, we haven’t talked about it any. We’re looking forward to playing those guys. We’re looking forward to forming a rivalry, but it’s not there yet.”

As for tonight’s game, both teams likely will hesitate to reveal much of anything that could give either side an advantage heading into next week’s opener.

“I think it depends on how deep they go in their playbook,” Johnson said. “For the most part, I think they are who they are.

They seem to have some pretty good chemistry going with their team. So, I think for us, it just depends on how deep they go into their playbook. I will say coming out of timeouts I don’t expect to see as much as we’re going to see opening night, and I’ll be surprised if we do.”

* Two years ago, NBA.com’s annual survey of the league’s 30 general managers tapped Deron Williams as the NBA’s best point guard. This year, Williams didn’t get a single vote.

“I just want to win,” Williams said following practice. “I don’t care where I’m ranked among point guards. I’m not here to do any point guard battles this year.

“There are no one-on-one tournaments for point guards. I just want to win.”

In reality, a lack of winning is one of the biggest reasons why Williams has gone from the top of the list two years ago to not getting a vote this year. The four players who received votes — Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo and Tony Parker — played on four of the 10 best teams in the NBA.

“It’s easy to forget about people when they’re losing, when a team’s not really relevant and not on TV,” Williams said. “I didn’t have a great year statistically, so that will hurt too.”

Keith Bogans (sore right knee) and Josh Childress (mild left ankle sprain) sat out of practice. Johnson said Childress is a game-time decision, and Bogans and Jerry Stackhouse will be out.