Metro

Hoop and holler: B’klyn Beep Spikes ball in Knicks-Nets rivalry

IN YOUR FACE: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Spike Lee fanned the flames before last night’s Knicks-Nets battle at Barclays. (
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This gives new meaning to the Battle of Brooklyn.

Marty Markowitz and filmmaker Spike Lee went one-on-one before last night’s much-anticipated matchup between the Knicks and the Nets at Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center.

After the cheerleading Brooklyn borough president challenged the movie mogul’s Brooklyn cred — in a video, of all things — the Knick uberfan fired back with a slam dunk tweet.

“With All Due Respect I Love BROOKLYN And New York Knickerbockers,” the Brooklyn-born and -raised Lee told his followers. “No Way EVER I Change. NYK.”

Earlier, Markowitz said Brooklynites who continued to root for what he called “the Manhattan Knicks” are “treasonous.”

“All I want is if the Knicks falter, which they’re going to,” Markowitz told Lee, “that you then make the Brooklyn Nets your second-favorite team.”

The Nets eked out a thrilling, 96-89 overtime victory — but Lee, as it turned out, wasn’t there, which was probably a good thing for him.

Markowitz found himself double-teamed even before the tip-off. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, on Lee’s side, took exception to the Brooklyn Beep’s trash talking.

“The ‘Manhattan’ Knicks?” Stringer asked. “Tell that to Carmelo “Red Hook” Anthony. This is a great night for New York City — and for basketball fans everywhere.”

Among the celebrities on hand for the historic game — the first regular-season matchup between two NBA teams from New York City — were Mayor Bloomberg, Michael Strahan, Charlie Rose, Richard Gere and, of course, Jay-Z, who is a part- owner of the Nets, and his wife, Beyoncé.

After the game, Jay-Z tweeted, “The city is under new management.’’

Nets fan Tom Roback, 37, of Queens, said, “The electricity here tonight is amazing. You would never, ever get this in New Jersey, even when the Nets played the Knicks or LeBron James and the Heat.”

The fans were split between the two teams — with a slight edge to the Nets. There were dueling cheers for both teams, and Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams, the best player for the Nets, each got serenaded with “MVP” chants.

Rahel Haile, 28, of Brooklyn, found herself torn. She said she is still a Knicks fan even though she has season tickets to the new team in town.

“My heart still bleeds Knicks blue and orange, but I love that we finally have a team here in Brooklyn,” Haile said.

“I haven’t officially switched sides yet. I’ll probably be rooting for the Knicks tonight, but things could change by the end of the year.”The game was originally scheduled as the Nets’ regular-season home opener on Nov. 1, but the NBA postponed it at Bloomberg’s suggestion because the city was still reeling from Hurricane Sandy.

Kenny Marshall had tickets for that game, but wasn’t even thinking about basketball when the storm gutted the first floor of his Broad Channel home and ruined his truck.

“We were going to sell the tickets for opening night because we really needed the money,” said Marshall, who attended the game with his daughter, Kory. “But we figured we’d come out and finally have a chance to enjoy ourselves for a change after all we’ve been through.”