Eastern Conference teams and also city rivals Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks will face off on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden
Brooklyn Nets possessed the most dynamic scoring trio for the season but James Harden couldn’t feel “at home” with the team. Kyrie Irving also elected to stay as a part-timer for the team with the ongoing Vaccination issue. This team relied heavily on Kevin Durant, who is sadly injured.
New York Knicks also started well this season but struggled defensively under one of best defensive coaches Thibodeau. The team relies heavily on Julius Randle, whose form took a slight hit in late December games.
The Nets looked solid in the beginning and enjoyed the top spot for a while in the East. Kevin Durant and Harden pair played well, but they couldn’t cope up against some of the strong defensive teams. With all three superstars out for their recent match against Oklahoma City, new additions made their mark. Seth Curry and Andre Drummond gave match-winning performances against OKC. This concludes their current streak – W1
New York Knicks were already struggling with the form, though their star Randle had some shots going in from the field, the supporting cast was not as effective as they needed to be. Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker showed some flashes of inspiration but were not consistent with their production. They lost against the bottom sides from the West OKC and Trailblazers. This concludes their current steak– L2
Both teams fared equally against each other, with Knicks just wining 1 extra game (102-101)
Current season home record for the Knicks: Knicks have been poor at home this season, below .5 mark (13-16)
Current season away record for the Nets at Knicks: This would be their first visit this season. (0-0)
Current season Head to head record between Nets and Knicks: Nets had a close victory at home against the Knicks, behind Harden strong performance (1-0)
The last 10 Matches the record between the Nets and Knicks: Nets have recently been a very dominant force in the state with 80% wins in the last 10 games. (8-2)
Both teams are struggling at this moment. The Nets, who were one of the favorites for the NBA title this season faced Covid-19 problems, internal issues, and players’ attitudes. Last season’s improvement was short-lived for the Knicks. They are currently 12th in the East with a 25-33 record.
Having a deep roster never hurts any team. With current additions, Brooklyn is loaded with some shooters and strong rim players. Though Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant are not available for the game, a similar production like the previous match would be enough for the nets to gain supremacy in NY State.
With Harden and Irving out of the picture, Mills is the Nets’ primary ball handler. He thrives in catch n shoot positions but can cope with the new role, having played so many seasons in NBA. Also, Mills already had proved effective for the team in absence of KD and Irving.
It is quite amusing that new players become a vital piece in such a star-studded team. But as for Seth Curry, who already played a huge role in Philly in absence of Embiid and also in the Nets debut game, can be influential against the Knicks.
Andre Drummond also was playing off the bench for most of the games in Philly. The high-profile rim-protector now has the perfect stage to become a core part of the contender team.
Once fallen out of form and out of favor in fans’ eyes, Randle has now again fought hard for his stardom in the Big Apple. He had some strong performances in recent games and proved to be the centerpiece for the Knicks offense in particular.
The young acquisition is yet to settle with the Knicks system and will have to look at how he develops in it. With RJ Barrett out with injury other stars needs to step up with their play. Fournier and Walker had already given some hopes to the Garden faithful with their plays.
A good shooter in Fournier and an efficient ball handler in Walker can make difference in the game citing defensive loop-holes in the Nets team.
The Nets will be without their two Superstars Kevin Durant (knee injury) and Kyrie Irving (NY Mandate for unvaccinated players) for this important matchup. They will also miss Ben Simmons, who is still following up with the therapy. Joe Harris is another absentee from the game with an ankle injury.
The non-availability of R. J. Barrett (ankle) and Derrick Rose (ankle) will be a major blow for the Knicks. Center Noel is also expected to be out for the game with a foot injury.
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