Brooklyn Nets vs. New York Knicks preview: Emirates Cup debut

This time, the score wasn’t close.

The Nets started out doing their thing against the Boston Celtics, relying on a red hot Ziaire Williams who scored 16 points in the first half and 23 (season-high) for the full game. But after that early spurt, Jayson Tatum started Jayson Tatuming. Luke Kornet was catching lobs over and over again, and Brooklyn started playing lackluster defense which left Coach Fernandez very displeased. All of these things combined led to a 139-114 defeat in an arena dominated by people wearing green. No, not TD Garden but the one at Flatbush and Atlantic.

Tonight, the Nets will be put to the test against another Eastern Conference foe, their crosstown rival in the New York Knicks. This year’s battle for the city will be the first of two games back to back, tonight for the Emirates NBA Cup tournament.

Injury Report

Bojan Bogdanovic will be out (left foot injury recovery), Day’Ron Sharpe (left hamstring), Trendon Watford (left hamstring) are all still out, with Bogdanovic a month away from either his next check-up. Jaylen Martin (G-League), and Dariq Whitehead (G-League assignment). Nic Claxton is questionable with lower back tightness.

For the Knicks, Karl Anthony-Towns has been added to the injury report — he’s questionable — due to a left knee contusion from the Knicks’ tough loss to the Chicago Bulls. Deuce McBride is questionable with left knee inflammation. Jalen Brunson (ankle) is probable. Precious Achiuwa will be out (left hamstring), as well as Mitchell Robinson with his long-term ankle injury and Kevin McCullar Jr. with a knee injury.

Where To Watch The Game

Catch the action on the YES Network and MSG if you aren’t blacked out because of a carriage dispute. Game begins at 7:30 p.m. and MSG

The Game

Unlike the Nets, who are exceeding their lowly expectations, the Knicks have had a slow start. Now 5-6 for the year, a half-game ahead of Brooklyn, the Manhattanites’ journey to a winning brand is still a work in progress. While they fought hard in their 124-123 loss to the Bulls, the new Big Three performed well until Josh Hart admitted to bone-headed play late. KAT played out of his mind with 46 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, while Jalen Brunson added 24 and former Net Mikal Bridges poured in 20.

KAT has been one of the few bright spots thus far, averaging 26 a game on 50% shooting, but he hasn’t had much help. While Brunson is averaging 24 points a game, his field goal percentage is 46%, a career low. In part because of a good amount of injuries and in part because of chemistry issues, not to mention bench issues, the Knicks are not playing to their level of talent.

But it has only been 11 games, and the Knicks are not panicking. Just ask Brunson himself.

“Obviously, the way the game turned out is not the way we wanted. We have to look at the positives,” Brunson said. “We can’t look at the negatives. We have to see what we can work on and go from there.” (I got this quote from Athlon Sports)

Players To Watch: Mikal Bridges

Obviously, I had to give Brooklyn Bridges the player spotlight. Besides that new jersey, Bridges has tried perfecting a new shooting form, which hasn’t served him well. Averaging only 15.6 points on shooting splits of 48/40/64, Bridges seems uncomfortable at times when given opportunities to score. Maybe it is the new vibe of playing with superstars? Maybe it was the offseason adjustments. Who knows.

On the flip side, Bridges and the Nets will certainly be delighted to see each other in the first game playing against one another.

“I think it’ll be good to see my guys,” Bridges said of the reunion at MSG. “I have a lot of good friends over there, even the coaching staff that’s there, all the way up to [general manager] Sean Marks and [assistant general manager] Andy [Birdsong]. I’m real close with a lot of those guys, so it will be good to see them.”

ICYMI

We are now four months from the trade that changed New York basketball. For the first time in 43 years, the Nets and Knicks hammered out a deal, signaling a rebuild for Brooklyn and an all-in, go for broke strategy for the Knicks.

In case you forgot (how could you?), here’s the particulars.

Knicks received:

• Mikal Bridges
• Keita Bates-Diop
• the Nets unprotected second rounder in 2026
• Draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet

Nets received:

• Four unprotected Knick first rounders in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031
• Lightly protected (1-4) Bucks first in 2025
• An unprotected swap of first rounders in 2028
• Return of the Nets second rounder in 2025
• Bojan Bogdanovic, Shake Milton (sign and trade) and Mamadi Diakite (partially guaranteed)

It didn’t end there either. The trade generated a $23.3 million trade exception for the Nets, second largest in the NBA, good through the beginning of free agency on July 6. Two weeks after the Knick trade was finalized, Sean Marks & co. traded Diakite’s partially guaranteed contract to the Memphis Grizzlies for 23-year-old Ziaire Williams and yet another pick, the Mavs second in 2030 (Using most of at TPE acquired in the Royce O’Neale deal to facilitate the salary dump.)

So between the Knicks trade and the Grizzlies off-shoot, Brooklyn acquired five first round picks, a first round swap and two second rounders. Other than the light protections on this year’s Bucks pick, all are unprotected. In fact, the Nets now control 15 first round picks, 12 of which can be moved at any time.

As Barbara Barker of Newsday wrote on Friday, “Right now, there hasn’t been much happening to make one think the Knicks were the winners in this deal.”

In all fairness, Bridges hasn’t been an awful player in his first 11 games as a Knick. What he has been is an average player, and an average NBA player is not what you trade four unprotected picks, a pick swap and what now may be an unexpectedly valuable protected 2025 Milwaukee Bucks pick for.

Bridges is averaging 15.6 points per game, fourth-best on the team, and has had only two games in which he’s reached 20 points. More telling is that through the first 11 games, Bridges has averaged more minutes (38.0) than anyone else on the roster but is the only player among the top nine in the rotation to have a negative net rating.

So, is this Bridges’ chance to rectify things?

From the Vault

It’s New York, New York today (and again, Sunday!) so Welcome to New York by Cam’ron and Jay-Z seems appropriate:

More reading: Posting & Toasting, SB Nation NBA