By JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
NEWARK — The Knicks are in a fight to qualify for the playoffs for a second straight season and going on the road on Wednesday evening wasn’t going to make the plight any easier, right?
Sure, the schedule said they were in Newark to take on the Nets for the final time in the Garden State before the Nets move to Brooklyn, but what ensued on Mulberry Street during a 104-95 Knicks win certainly didn’t make it seem like the winning team was the road team.
Walking into the Prudential Center an hour before tipoff, there were a considerable number of Knicks jerseys already in their seats and walking around the concourse. Once the introductions began, the loudest ovation went to Carmelo Anthony, while the loudest boos were saved for the Nets.
Behind a 21-point first quarter from Anthony, the Knicks went up 38-22 after 12 minutes of play.
The crowd cheered every one of Anthony’s four 3-pointers in the first quarter, chanted ‘MVP’ and followed that with chants of “Let’s Go Knicks.’ Again, this game was played in Newark, not Manhattan, but if you started calling the building Prudential Square Garden on Wednesday, it’s unlikely anyone would have corrected you.
“I thought we were at the Garden for a minute, I was looking for Spike (Lee),” J.R. Smith joked in the locker room after the Knicks moved to three and a half games clear of ninth place with four to play. “The fans were unbelievable.”
The fact that the Knicks went over the Hudson River into New Jersey and saw their fan base take the Prudential Center over should say a lot about two teams that some people like to think are rivals. The fact of the matter is, it has never been a rivalry because rivalries typically are not one-sided as Knicks-Nets has been over the years.
With the exception of the Jason Kidd era that produced back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, the Nets have largely been unspectacular and at times, unwatchable since moving to New Jersey 35 years ago.
Yes, the Knicks have not won a title since 1973, but in the tri-state area, the Nets have been an afterthought and any rational basketball fan would agree.
“There’s a lot of New York fans that really support this team, especially in this area,” Knicks interim head coach Mike Woodson said. “There’s a lot of New York fans in various cities too that we get a nice hand from and that’s kinda nice to see.”
An interesting dynamic will take place next season with the Nets set to begin play at the Barclays Center on Atlantic Avenue. They will be sharing New York City with the Knicks, who have entrenched themselves as a traditional, recognizable piece of the five boroughs with a fan base that stretches not only across New York, but across the country. The Knicks are also helped by becoming relevant again thanks to Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire.
The Nets, on the other hand, do not have the roster or the fan base of the Knicks, so the move to the Barclays Center should be interesting to watch if the Nets struggle once the novelty of the new arena wears off.
What the Nets still do have on their side is a generation of older fans who are still fond of the Julius Erving ABA teams and the days on Long Island way back when. Will that be enough to find room next to the Knicks in the hearts and minds of New York City basketball fans? Only time will tell.
If Wednesday night in Newark was any indication, the answer already seems clear.
Photo: Daily News
