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Showing posts with label Knicks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knicks. Show all posts

Nets fans celebrate NBA opening night nearly as much as C's



 The Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks 132-109 on opening night at TD Garden. It wasn't even that close. 

Not only did the Knicks not look like the second best team in the East, but they were non-competitive throughout the entire contest with the defending NBA Champion Celtics. 

So while Boston fans were elated with a championship ring ceremony followed by a drubbing of the Knicks, there was another fan base that was equally pleased with New York getting run out of the building. 

After the Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn in exchange for six future first round picks, five of which were unprotected and a second round pick, the Nets rebuild was officially underway. 

Bridges's jump shot has looked broken throughout the preseason and his defense did very little to stop Jayson Tatum on Tuesday night. 

The Knicks gutted the heart and soul of their team by trading Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle away to Minnesota for Karl Anthony Towns.

Additionally, they allowed Isaiah Harkenstein to sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the offseason. 

New York is in win-now mode, but still looks like it's not in the same stratosphere to compete with Boston. 

That is good news both short-term and long-term for Nets fans is Brooklyn owns most of the Knicks future picks and would not like to see the crosstown rivals enjoy any success this season. 

While this was simply opening night, it's s clear the defensive identity of the Knicks is gone and they don't appear to be a championship contender just yet.



Brunson-Kyrie swap was possible for Bklyn according to one basketball pundit



Jalen Brunson is currently the New York Knicks savior. 

 But according to  ESPN basketball expert and Mavericks reporter Tim MacMahon, Brunson was close to playing across the East River. 

During the summer of 2022 when Brunson became a free agent, his intentions were clear to sign with his father's former club in the Knicks. 

 Before he became a free agent, the Mavericks failed to lock down Brunson on a four-year, $55 million extension during his final season there. Speaking on the Knicks Film School Podcast, MacMahon indicates that there was a 'strong likelihood' that Brunson is part of a Kyrie Irving trade with Brooklyn if an extension is signed in Dallas.

 We'll never know what the pairing of Brunson and Kevin Durant would look like, but things would have likely ended better than they did with the Nets the last two seasons. 

Brooklyn needs to build a bridge and get over Mikal

 


Mikal Bridges is a New York Knick. The supposed centerpiece of a Nets post-Big Three era is now a distant memory. 

Sean Marks built a warchest of picks and capitalized on the Knicks overpaying for a zero-time All-Star. 

The Nets will be in the Cooper Flag sweepstakes. That means plenty of losing and therein lottery balls hopefully bouncing their way. 

In the meantime, the Knicks will be looking to dethrone a Celtics team that just inked Jayson Tatum to the richest contract in league history and has all of it's starters and key reserves locked up for at least the next few years. 

The Sixers added Paul George, Caleb Martin and Andre Drummond to a core of a rising Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Kelly Oubre. 

The Bucks and Pacers will look to be a factor, while Miami can never be discounted with Jimmy Butler and Erik Spoelstra.

The Knicks have a pathway to the finals, but after losing Isaiah Harkenstein, there's a glaring need for them at backup center. 

The Bridges trade will be a constant talking point in the Big Apple, but while the Knicks will have the pressure of being winners in the short-term, the Nets can patiently wait for draft picks, the right free agents and trade opportunities to come across Marks' desk.



Knicks player trolls Haliburton with meme about maligned Net

 


Donte DiVincenzo didn't pull any punches in Game 5 and he is not pulling any punches in his meme game. 

Following the 121-91 win in Game 5 over Indiana at MSG, DiVincenzo took to Instagram to caught a stray via Instagram. 

New York can close out the series on Friday in Indiana. Haliburton had a down game with just 13 points and five rebounds. 

Clearly, the Pacers star has bulletin board material that he'll need to use as inspiration when he returns to Gainbridge Fieldhouse. 

 

Trading for a Knick killer could swing pendulum back in Nets' favor



The New York Knicks are playing like superheroes in the 2024 playoffs. After knocking off the 76ers in the opening round, New York will rest upb and prepare to take on Indiana at Madison Square Garden in Game 1 of the semi-finals.

While one New York basketball team prepares for a deep playoff run, the other will pick up the broken pieces from its lost season.

The Brooklyn Nets are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They don't own a draft pick in 2024 and general manager Sean Marks has reportedly passed on several opportunities to hit the hard reset button by refusing multiple first round draft picks for Mikal Bridges as well as for Dorian Finney-Smith. 

So with Brooklyn in a retooling phase, adding a marque player via trade may be the most logical route back to contention.

A player often connected to wanting out of his current situation is a noted coach killer and Knicks killer.

That player, none other than Trae Young, may be just what the doctor ordered for Brooklyn.

While Dennis Schröder was a pleasant surprise after adding him at the trade deadline in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn is in dire need of a franchise point guard.

Young fits that bill. Having ousted the Knicks out of the playoffs in 2022, the Atlanta point guard in public enemy number one for New York. 

Young has also developed a reputation as a difficult player to coach, having run Lloyd Pierce and Nate McMillan out of Atlanta.

With Young wearing out his welcome down South, a Nets-Hawks swap might just propel Brooklyn back to relevancy and close the talent gap in the New York City basketball rivalry. 

Knicks down Nets as Bridges has historically woeful shooting night



The normally friendly confines of Barclays Center was a house of horrors for Mikal Bridges, who shot 4 of 21 from the field, including 1 of 8 from 3pt range in a 19 point drubbing at the hands of the Knicks on Wednesday night.

Brooklyn shot just 36.6 percent as a team with Cam Thomas and Cam Johnson leading the way with 20 each.

The Knicks led by as many as 25 as the club from MSG saw Julius Randle tally 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Donte DiVincenzo 23 while Josh Hart had 10 points and 13 rebounds. 

Jalen Brunson was a terrific tablesetter with 16 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds as the defensively challenged Nets couldn't overcome a poor shooting night.

Despite the Nets having won 8 of the last 10 matchups with the Knicks and Wednesday marking New York's first win at Barclays Center in four years, it does appear that the pendulum is swinging away from Brooklyn in the Intercity rivalry. 

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