BATTLE DOWN ‘LO’: Brook Lopez goes up for a shot against Tyson Chandler as Iman Shumpert (right) and Jason Kidd look on during the Knicks’ 88-85 loss to the Nets yesterday at the Garden. Lopez finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. (Getty Images)
Gerald Wallace wasn’t a happy man after learning Deron Williams had made 52 consecutive free throws before missing the first of two with 5.7 seconds left yesterday at the Garden. The Nets were leading the rival Knicks 88-85 at the time, and two free throws would have ensured a road victory.
“Damn D-Will,” Wallace shouted across the Nets locker room. “I got to talk to him about that. He missed the one that would have iced the game. He must have been tripping.”
Of course, Wallace was just having some fun with Williams. It was smiles all around after the Nets eventually outlasted the Knicks 88-85, after J.R. Smith missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Beating the Knicks on Martin Luther King Day evened their season series 2-2. Thanks to the short-sighted NBA schedule makers, a battle of the boroughs won’t possibly take place again until the 2013 playoffs.
If you love basketball, that’s what you root for. You root for the Knicks and Nets to square off in the Eastern Conference playoffs. It will be a series sure to be electric and add spice to a rivalry that offered a taste yesterday of how compelling it could be.
“It’s the beginning of something that’s going to be here for a long time,” Knicks All-Star Carmelo Anthony said. “We look forward to the challenge and look forward to playing them four times every year.”
You could tell by the looks on their faces the Knicks did not appreciate losing yesterday’s game — not one bit. They said all the right things afterward, but it was not easy to lose on their home floor.
“I thought we had momentum in the fourth quarter,” Knicks center Tyson Chandler said. “I thought we were going to run away with it. But they forced us into tough shots and got the momentum back. They just beat us.”
And there was this from Smith: “Being 2-2 against them stinks. It’s like kissing your sister.”
It’s unfortunate that just when this Knicks-Nets thing was starting to have some heat, the season series is over before the All-Star break. But anyone at the Garden yesterday could see how these two teams will likely clash in June with much more at stake.
The Nets are for real. Johnson (25 points) outplayed Anthony (29 points) down the stretch, rescuing the Nets with 10 fourth-quarter points. Brook Lopez outplayed Chandler, recording 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots to seven points, 11 rebounds and no blocks for Chandler. Williams was a steady force with 14 points and 12 assists.
Under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, the Nets look every bit like a team brimming with confidence. Defensively, they limited the Knicks to just 6 of 21 shooting from the 3-point line and won the rebound battle 52-37.
“We’re hard to beat,” Wallace said. “When our bigs protect the rim and block shots like they did, it makes it a whole lot easier for us guards.”
Said Joe Johnson, “We’re starting to figure things out.”
The Nets are one game behind the Knicks in the Atlantic Division, a race that figures to be tight for the remainder of the year. The Knicks will get better when they get point guard Raymond Felton back and when Iman Shumpert works off the rust. The regular-season series with the Nets might be over, but it’s not over.
“It’s going to be a nice fight down the stretch for the division. It’s good for New York basketball,” Chandler said. “It’s good for the city to have two teams competing at a high level.”
Somehow you can’t wait for late May to get here, even though it’s not even February yet. A Knicks-Nets rivalry was more hype than reality when the season began. Now it’s starting to get interesting. It’s sure to reach another level if we’re lucky enough to have them match up in the playoffs.
Can’t wait.