The New York derby went pretty one-sided from the start and a blowout was eminent. In the first quarter Nets did have problems with fouls of Kevin Garnett and holding the ball but soon with a three pointer of Mirza Teletović, Nets went up by 10 in the end of the first. The story was continued through the second, Nets controlled the game with good defense on Carmelo Anthony forcing some shots from him that he missed, hitting a good percentage from the floor but struggling with defensive boxouts and free throws.
After the half Brooklyn was up 13, 55-42 which was later extended to 18 after the third. Nets played this just how they are supposed to, as it was theirs from the get-go until the end and the amount of depth they have as oppossed to the Knicks was shown through Teletović points from the bench (18). I already saw on Twitter the #startMirza campaign but in all truth, with the lack of defense in the starting center, Garnett needs to be there as insurance with his prolific defensive experience.
Now, there was a weird moment where Lionel Hollins put Karasev in for Joe Johnson and it was weird because it was usually Alan Anderson for JJ and then Kirilenko for Bogdanović, but AK-47 bagged just two minutes on the court last night, not scoring at all. What is going on with AK cannot be known and this could be connected with his back injury which was something that kept him off the court last year. As for the scorers, the Nets were led by Deron Williams who has been playing amazingly from the start of this season and his performances on the court are showing the success of his ankle surgery this past preseason.
Brook Lopez bagged 20, Joe Johnson and Mirza Teletović both had 18l. As for the Knicks, Anthony had “only“ 19, Hardaway 16, Stoudemire and the rookie Early 14 and 12 respectively off the bench. In the end, it can be said that there is only one true king of all of New York and for now, it is the Brooklyn Nets.
Brooklyn MVP and Overall MVP: Deron Williams 29 pts, 6 ast, 1 reb, 1 stl
New York Sports Hub 