New York Basketball's Polar Opposites

 Basketball in New York will forever be linked in Brooklyn and Madison Square Garden. The Nets will never catch the Knicks in terms of fanfare, ratings, or relevance—but because New York is a basketball city they will always be on the top of mind within the center of the universe.

Part of this relationship within the city between both squads right now is the Mikal Bridges trade, but even that isn’t the biggest difference with where the Knicks and Nets are at right now. Wednesday night was a snapshot of the directions each team is headed. The Knicks almost choked away a 19-point lead at home against the struggling Philadelphia 76’ers. They were saved by the heroics of Jalen Brunson yet again. In Brooklyn at the same time, the Nets crumbled against one of the best teams in the NBA despite scoring 76 points in the first half, out shooting Oklahoma City from the three-point line, having more rebounds and assists than the Thunder, and going into the locker room at halftime up 18 points. Yet, the Nets gave up 68 points in the second half and lost by eight at the Barclays Center. Brooklyn was without their two best players, D’Angelo Russell and Nic Claxton, but the Knicks over in Manhattan didn’t have their second-best player, Karl Anthony-Towns. Both teams could have made a statement simultaneously, they didn’t, but what did happen is what has happened for the better part of two seasons. The Knicks found a way to win. The Nets found a way to lose.

In a season in Brooklyn where they have toyed with the idea of the Play-In Tournament, while congruently white knuckling the lottery steering wheel. Dealing with both realities has been agonizing to the fanbase. Brooklyn remains a game and a half out of the Play-In Tournament. While also having the 6th worst record in the NBA and six games out of the bottom three (which grants you the best lottery odds).

Meanwhile at the World’s Most Famous Arena, the Knicks haven’t been able to solve the top three teams in the league record wise, they’ve beaten up on everyone else. They have made themselves into a team that can beat anyone on a given night because of the play of Jalen Brunson and the relentless attitude of coach Tom Thibodeau. The next question for the Knicks is whether they can take the next step in their championship progression and get out of the second round of the playoffs. That is the luxury and curse awarded to this version of the Knicks. Unlike Brooklyn, the Knicks have entered the same stratosphere as the New York Yankees. Nothing in the regular season matters, only the postseason. The Knicks don’t have to win the NBA title this year like the Yankees must win the World Series, but the pressure for playoff success is similar. The burden on Brunson’s shoulders is immense. Regardless of outcome in the postseason, the Knicks are continuing to build a winner at MSG. Let’s not get that twisted. In Brooklyn, the blueprints for the foundation of the next good team are in the brainstorming stages. The only question for Sean Marks and company is will it work?  

Each team within the most basketball crazed city in America, has shown definitively that they are at the opposite ends of the earth in how they play on a nightly basis.

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