A New York City derby between the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks is scheduled on Saturday, Oct. 8 at the Madison Square Garden as part of the ongoing 2016-2017 NBA Preseason Games.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru the NBA League Pass.
Preview
Brooklyn opened the preseason with a strong performance against the Detroit Pistons, pulling off a 101-94 win at the Barclays Center on Thursday.
New acquisition Jeremy Lin showed why the Nets' acquisition of him was one of the best deals that happened in the summer as he led all scorers with a game-high 21 points, grabbed three rebounds, and dished off an assist in only 17 minutes of action as a starter.
Brook Lopez, who is still the team's undisputed team leader, played only 13 minutes and contributed eight points and two rebounds.
Notable bench players were former Cavs reserve Joe Harris and veteran forward Luis Scola who fired 12 and 10 points in 20 and 17 minutes respectively.
New head coach Kenny Atkinson had been adamant in introducing ball movement from the formerly isolation-heavy Nets and the team showed it a lot during the game. Another evident change was the team's sudden penchant for the three-point shot, where they went 14-for-34 in the game for 41.2 percent, which was not a strength of the team before.
Meanwhile, Knicks fans finally had a glimpse of Derrick Rose on the floor with Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis all playing together. New York was drubbed by the Houston Rockets, 130-103, at the Toyota Center on Tuesday.
The trio seemed to have good chemistry in their first game together, but it was Anthony who struggled as he shot only 4-of-13 from the field for 10 points in 22 minutes of play.
Rose was aggressive with his drives to the basket and looked resurrected playing in a new jersey, shooting 7-of-14 and scored 16 points with two rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes.
Most impressive was super sophomore Porzingis who had a team-high 22 points in 27 minutes as he shot 8-for-11 including a 5-for-6 stint from beyond the arc.
However, the bench's performance was much less to be desired and should be a key factor for the Knicks going into the regular season.
Prediction
A win for the Brooklyn Nets. The Knicks' starters will continue to improve, but they have to take their bench with them.
