The preseason opener was also the first time Tyson Chandler suited up for his new team. (Paul J. Bereswill)
It was pretty much what you would expect after a long lockout, a postage stamp-size training camp and rosters that have been put together on the fly.
“Sloppy basketball,” Nets point guard Deron Williams said.
“It just felt good to put the uniform back on and all the equipment, running out there and getting into the flow of things. I haven’t done this in a long time so it felt kind of weird,” Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony said.
So there was a little bit of everything — good, bad, ugly and weird — yesterday in the Knicks’ 92-83 victory over the Nets at the Prudential Center in Newark before an enthusiastic gathering of 13,027, who seemed grateful at long last to welcome NBA basketball — even that of the sloppy, weird, preseason variety — back to the area.
The game featured the first formal gathering of the Knicks’ new front line of Anthony (17 points), Amar’e Stoudemire (10 points, six rebounds) and newly acquired center Tyson Chandler (four points, four rebounds, two blocks and three steals), an alignment that has coach Mike D’Antoni talking about the possibility of a championship run in Manhattan. Some heard that, and smiled. Some heard that, and thought, “weird.”
“I agree with him, though. Your goal should be to win a championship,” said Chandler, who won a title with the Mavericks last season. “I understand we just came together, but I would be lying to you if I didn’t tell you it’s my goal. When you come here and have talent we have, that should be our goal.”
For the Nets yesterday, the goal seemed to be get to know one another and get to know where one another is going to be. The Nets unleashed a ghastly array of 26 turnovers. The cynics in the crowd saw that as the Nets truly being in midseason form. But coach Avery Johnson, ever the optimist, saw the two-dozen-plus miscues as a blemish amid lots of positives that included sound defense and a double-double by Brook Lopez (15 points, 11 rebounds). Lopez last season averaged 6.0 rebounds and about two and a half tons of criticism every game.
“It definitely was a conscious effort. Coaches are keeping track of not just rebounds, but attempted rebounds, so you’re not just sitting there watching. I think that helped a lot,” Lopez said of his rebounding.
“Defensively, I thought we were awfully good overall,” said Johnson, choosing to highlight the Knicks’ shooting .405 and scoring 92 points, noting if that is a Net constant this season, “we’re going to have a chance to be really good.”
As long as the turnovers are not measured in the dozens.
“You’ve got to expect that,” Deron Williams (nine points, six assists and six turnovers) said of the Nets’ slop. “We’ve only had two scrimmages in training camp so things are going to be rusty. We’re not going to be in the right spots at times we’re going to make mistakes.”
The Knicks are going through the same thing, too. And while they’ll do it again against the Nets on Wednesday at the Garden in the two-game preseason finale for both, the Knicks gained a massive edge in reserves, with Renaldo Balkman leading all scorers with 20 points (told you weird applied) while energetic rookie Iman Shumpert scored 16 points. Toney Douglas (five points, six rebounds, five assists) started at point for the Knicks with Mike Bibby getting in 15 minutes. Anthony Morrow matched Lopez with 15 points.
So basically, there was a lot of “pleased to meetcha” play by both sides.
“It was my first time playing with them, it was a long lockout,” Chandler said of his new mates. “Training camp was so quick but everybody is faced with the same thing. We’ll adjust as the season goes. You don’t want to set too many long-term goals early.”