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It might be two days later than anticipated, but the Nets will finally, officially, become Brooklyn’s team tonight.
After Thursday’s scheduled opener against the Knicks at Barclays Center was postponed as the city continued to recover from the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the Nets will take the floor inside their brand-new billion-dollar arena in Brooklyn and begin the first season of major professional sports in the borough since the Dodgers left in 1957.
Though tonight’s opponent, the Raptors, doesn’t bring with it the same attention that playing the Knicks does, all that matters to Nets coach Avery Johnson is that opening night is finally here.
“Everybody’s got bigger fish to fry,” Johnson said after yesterday’s practice. “We had no control over it. What we can control is we’re opening up. … It’s still a big moment for us, opening up in the Barclays Center, no matter who our opponent is.
“It’s still the first game in the Barclays Center, and it means just as much as it would have opening up Thursday night, especially because of all of the challenges that our communities are facing right now.”
As a group, the Nets are ready to get on the court against anyone, after a strange training camp and preseason schedule left them with large gaps of time off. They were the last team to play in the preseason, then played five games in seven days before playing just one game over the last two weeks.
With now 10 days between their final preseason game and tonight’s opener, they’re just happy to finally be playing again.
“I think that was the toughest part,” Gerald Wallace said of the odd preseason schedule. “It’s been kind of rough for us, but at the same time, it gave us a great opportunity to work on some things we needed to work on, and build up that excitement for the first game.
“It feels like we haven’t played in two months, so we’re anxious to get out on the court and go up against somebody besides ourselves. The focus is there, the energy is there, the excitement is there, we’re just ready to get out there and play.”
One small benefit the Nets have had in the wake of the devastation left behind by Hurricane Sandy — including flooding the first floor of the team’s practice facility in New Jersey — is that it has given the Nets an extra few days of practice time on their new court. With just three preseason games and a few practices inside Barclays Center during the first few weeks of camp, the Nets have taken advantage of the opportunity to get a little more used to their new surroundings.
“We’ve needed it,” Johnson said. “That’s why you see us having the building and the lighting the way it’s going to be on game nights, and this has been very strategic and we’ve had a purpose and a reasoning of doing what we’ve done.”
But, in the face of everything that’s happened this week, the Nets are simply happy to finally get their season started tonight. And, in a small way, Johnson hopes his team can give their fans a couple hours worth of distraction amidst what has been a painful week.
“Hopefully the folks that show up for the game, hopefully they’ll be glad to get in the building and I know for sure we’re going to have some people in the building who are without power at home,” he said. “So hopefully they can come here and get a hot dog or something and enjoy the game and maybe just take their mind off of things for two hours.”