Brooklyn Nets vs. New York Knicks 03/16/17
Time: Thursday, March 16, 2017, 07:30 PM ET
Venue: Madison Square Garden | New York, NY
TV: YES Network, Fox Sports Go
Projected Starters:
Brooklyn:
Jeremy Lin, Randy Foye, Caris LeVert, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Brook Lopez
New York:
Derrick Rose, Courtney Lee, Carmelo Anthony, Lance Thomas, Willy Hernangomez
Absences:
Brooklyn:
Sean Kilpatrick, Joe Harris, Trevor Booker
New York:
Joakim Noah, Kristaps Porzingis
The Brooklyn Nets lost yet another chance at back-to-back victories for the first time this season with their disappointing loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Fortunately for the Nets, up next is a trip down the A-train to Midtown to take on borough rival, the New York Knicks.
The Knicks have been pretty abysmal this season for a team that made a splash in free-agency with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Expectations were pretty high entering this season, but things slowly started to unravel over the course of the season from Phil Jackson to Carmelo Anthony to Charles Oakley.
On top of that, Brooklyn has beaten their borough rival earlier this week 120-112. If the Nets come out playing like they did the last time these two teams faced off, the Nets will be in great shape. Brook Lopez nailed six three-point shots in that game and the entire Nets offense was in synch.
If Brooklyn wants to defeat the Knicks again, their offense will most certainly need to be in synch yet again. Brooklyn will be looking to not only Lopez but also Jeremy Lin to make some noise. Lin had arguably his best game since returning from his injury against the Thunder with a Nets-high 24 points.
If Brook-Lin can go for 20+ points each, the Nets will be in great shape and it is likely they can pull off the victory. Lin has changed this team’s dynamic from taking bad shots to having someone that can lead the floor and get guys the ball with a good shot on their hand.
This is a game Brooklyn should and could win. If they do, Nets fans could expect to see Knicks fans around the city and country being quite depressed. It has been a rough season for them, but having back-to-back losses to the league-worst Nets would only make matters that much worse.