In many ways, it never has gotten any better than it was on the evening of Oct. 2, 1973. There were 17,226 people inside Madison Square Garden to watch a game that mattered to nobody, except it seemed to matter to every one of the 17,226 who’d bought tickets.
The Knicks were defending NBA champions. The Nets were about to begin a season that resulted in their first ABA title. Julius Erving had just been acquired by the Nets, and this was a chance to make a statement. Even if it was just an exhibition game.
“It really doesn’t matter to us,” Knicks forward Dave DeBusschere — who’d already been hired to become the Nets’ general manager at season’s end — said a few days before.
“I think it probably matters more to us than to them,” Nets point guard Bill Melchionni conceded.
It was hard to believe there was nothing on the line as the heavily partisan Knicks crowd created a playoff atmosphere from the opening tip. But it didn’t matter. Erving scored 27 points. The Nets won, 97-87.
“I think we can compete with anyone,” Melchionni said afterward, with a satisfied grin.
Of course, the two teams retreated to their neutral corners after that (though the Knicks did win the rematch two nights later at Nassau Coliseum, 105-87) and have never really come back from them. It’s awfully hard to remember a time when they were really that interested in a pairing again. They’ve met three times in the playoffs since the Nets joined the NBA in 1976, and not one memory of any of those series stands out.
There has been no Clemens-Piazza snarl-down. No Knick has ever yelled at his teammates before a Nets game: “Let’s go out there like a bunch of crazed dogs!” There has never been a beef that comes close to “… Da, da, da, da-da da, da, da … POTVIN SUCKS!”
They are rivals of geography, and little else.
It hasn’t helped that Knicks-Nets has lately been so one-sided, either. The Nets are 7-0 against the Knicks the last two years and 9-2 since the Nets signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The two Knicks wins came in 2019-20 when Durant was out for the year with an Achilles injury and Irving missed both games with a bum shoulder.
That’s where things are likely to stay for the foreseeable future, too. The Nets are desperately trying to shake off the dust of dysfunction that has covered them the last two weeks, and the Knicks are trying to establish a new narrative around themselves, too.
“It’s our next game, that’s all I care about,” Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson said of facing the Nets on Wednesday, which is probably not what he said back at Villanova whenever Penn, Temple, La Salle or Saint Joseph’s was the next team up in the Big Five round robin.
“I worry about the Knicks,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That’s more than enough for me.”
Julius Randle did tweak the Nets over their follies: “That’s their problem. All good over here in Knick-land, baby!”
But even that’s not exactly bulletin-board-quality trash talk. Which is probably fine. Both teams are simply trying to ride the early season bull without getting thrown off: The Nets nearly pulled off a miracle comeback in Dallas on Monday night not long after the Knicks thoroughly manhandled the Timberwolves in Minneapolis.
The Knicks are 5-5; all of their wins have come against teams with losing records and all of their losses have come against teams with winning records. The Nets are 4-7, but have played notably better (especially on defense) since Irving was suspended.
And there is that seven-game streak that has included some achingly close games, which the Nets have simply been better at closing out. Last season, the Knicks’ four losses to the Nets came by two (on two James Johnson free throws with 2.0 to play), five (after the Knicks led 38-18 following one quarter), three and 12 (after the Knicks led 67-50 at the half).
Thibodeau, Brunson, Randle and his players might not give extra weight to the Nets, not now, but figuring out a way to reverse that trend will go a long way toward keeping them afloat. The Nets need the same thing right now. Two scuffling teams and one geographic rivalry. That’s as good a reason to be at Barclays Center on Wednesday night as any.