The Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks played the 213th game of their LIRR/PATH/Subway Series rivalry on Saturday afternoon, and for a moment, nothing else mattered. Not Brooklyn entering MSG as losers of five straight (the longest active streak in the NBA), not their long-lost season, nor the Manhattanites’ huge lead in this season’s standings.
It was simply an opportunity for the Nets to “grow,” something Kevin Ollie has harped on with the Play-In Tournament seemingly off the table for his squad, and an opportunity to take it to their cross-town rival.
You’d be foraging if you expected a rock fight between the two NYC teams, given their history, their defensively-slanted rosters, and the 1:00 pm start time on Saturday afternoon, Kids’ Day at the Garden.