Brooklyn Nets Finally Have Homecourt Advantage, Beat New York Knicks

By John J. Paolantonio
Gerald Wallace Guards Carmelo Anthony
Debby Wong : US PRESSWIRE

 

The Brooklyn Nets waited an extra 25 days to play the game that was originally scheduled for November 1, when Hurricane Sandy changed that, to open up their new billion dollar arena and it was well worth the wait once the sellout crowd of 17,732 started the chants of “BROOK-LYN! BROOK-LYN!”

The Nets went into the game against the rival New York Knicks 6-1 at home and looking to grab a hold of first place in the division and also grab some city-wide respect for their new-look team and organization.  Home court is not something that was spoken about by Nets players the past few years but that time is over now.

The Barclays Center looked to be 65-to-70 percent full of the home team’s fans in the beginning, and as the game went on the back and forth with the Knicks fans got louder and louder.  As the game got close to the Knicks fans started hollering ”Defense! Defense!” and the Nets fans responded with chants of  “BROOK-LYN! BROOK-LYN!”

Deron Williams (16 points and a season-high 14 assists) spoke about the fans in the building after winning an 96-89 overtime victory over the Knicks.  “It was just a total 180 from what we saw last year (in New Jersey), when it was mostly Knicks fans, All the chants and all the cheers were for them. It’s great to feel that we have that home-court advantage finally.”

Williams has always tried to keep from fueling the New York media and prefers to let his play do the talking. So it came as no surprise that Williams once again downplayed the significance of this early-season victory over the Knicks.

“It’s one game. It’s a good win for us, but we still have to play them three more times, and maybe in the playoffs. We can’t just be excited like we won the championship,” Williams said. “We didn’t win the championship of New York. We won a game against a division rival and it was a great win for us. That’s about it.”

”Every time some sort of Knicks contingency started to cheer, our fans got louder,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “This………is what I’ve dreamed about ever since I got here.”

Billy King, Nets GM, said on ESPN NY 98.7 FM earlier in the day, “They’re gonna be here (speaking of Knicks fans). The best way to silence them is going out there and beating them.”

Job Done Billy!

Listen and watch to the Brooklyn Nets Anthem here

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