Nothin' But Nets
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Brooklyn Nets Verse New York Knicks Preview

By Anthony Parisi

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Tonight at 7:30 PM ET the Brooklyn Nets travel not too far to Manhattan to face off against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in a game between two struggling teams. The Knicks are currently 4-and-14 on the season while the Nets are 6-and-9. Although this game always seems to have a little more juice to it than a normal regular season game, Knicks star player Carmelo Anthony doesn’t consider it a rivalry just yet. Anthony told the media on Monday that he’s not worried about Brooklyn, but he also included that he wants to protect home court much like the Nets did in the first meeting of the season.

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Projected Starting Lineups

Brooklyn Nets:

Point Guard: Deron Williams

Shooting Guard: Bojan Bogdanovic

Small Forward: Joe Johnson

Power Forward: Kevin Garnett

Center: Brook Lopez

New York Knicks:

Point Guard: Jose Calderon

Shooting Guard: Iman Shumpert

Small Forward: Carmelo Anthony

Power Forward: Quincy Acy

Center: Samuel Dalembert

Keys to the Game

Brooklyn Nets: Be Aggressive

The Nets have fallen into a recent slump thanks to an inability to close out games and players being too unselfish. Joe Johnson called his teammates selfish to the media a couple of weeks ago and ever since Johnson made those remarks, it has seemed that the Nets haven’t been as aggressive. The Last time these two teams met the Nets hit the three ball with regularity and the Nets need to not be hesitant on the offensive side of the ball and they also need to swarm Carmelo Anthony on the defensive side of the ball too.

New York Knicks: Get Crowd Going Early

Even when the Knicks are struggling, Madison Square Garden is still roaring with intensity every single night and a game against their crosstown rivals will add even more energy to the building. The Knicks need to jump out from the beginning and show the Nets that they want revenge from the last time these two teams played and they need Anthony to have a much better game than he did in the first meeting. If Anthony gets double teamed, others need to step up and make shots for the Knicks to stand a chance in this game.

Prediction: Brooklyn Nets 101 New York Knicks 96  

Both teams are in dire need of a win and a matchup with a local foe will make the game mean even more to the players on both sides. The Knicks will be without J.R. Smith due to flu like symptoms and his absence will hurt the Knicks bench, while the Nets are expected to have all of their rotational players ready to go. Anthony will bounce back and get his usual total of high 20’s or low 30’s in points and Johnson will break out of his slump for the Nets and get 20 or more points. Mirza Teletovic is also due for a big game and the Bosnian sharp shooter will break out of his slump in a big way tonight as well. It will be a tight one but in the end I see the Nets pulling this one out and taking a 2-0 lead on the season series.

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