The question of what constitutes a rivalry was a popular topic Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn. It cropped up because for one of the few times since the Nets and Knicks began plying their trades within the confines of New York’s five boroughs, both teams hold winning records.
Since the Nets moved to Brooklyn for the 2012-13 season, the teams produced winning records in the same season twice and it occurred nine seasons apart.
In 2012-13, the Knicks won their first division title since 1994 (double check) and 54 games while the Nets recovered from a slow start and won 49 games before bowing out in Game 7 against Tom Thibodeau’s Chicago Bulls, resulting in a trade of multiple draft picks to the Celtics to acquire an aging Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
Two seasons ago, the Nets formed their Big Three of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden and won 48 times during a 72-game season. At the same time, the Knicks surged late and won 41 times thanks to a career season by Julius Randle.
After both teams slogged through disappointing seasons, they exited their second meeting with winning records but is it a rivalry if one team dominates the other? Brooklyn’s 122-115 win where it led for the final 46:53 after the Knicks scored the game’s first point, marked its ninth straight in the series.
for me, I love beating the Knicks and playing against them, but all in all, it's just about the objective and that's to win the ballgame," Irving said. "Nothing personal."
Only it may not be as simple in the minds of Thibodeau and Jacque Vaughn. Thibodeau had front row seats as an assistant with the 1990s Knicks when they faced the Miami Heat in the 1997, 1998,1999 and 2000 postseasons in series that presented the physical nature of a rivalry defined.Watch now