Brooklyn Nets Open New Digs With a Win
The fans of Brooklyn have waited since 1957 to celebrate a victory by a team named for Brooklyn. Then because of a devastating hurricane to hit, in all places, New York City/New Jersey they had to wait a bit longer. But on Saturday, the Brooklyn Nets won their first game in the new Barclay’s Center over the Toronto Raptors 107-100 to bring big league pro sports back to the borough for the first time since MLB’s Dodgers left for Los Angeles after the 1957 season.
Brook Lopez scored 27 points to lead the Nets and Deron Williams added 19 to lead the Nets. A sellout crowd of nearly 18,000 fans chanted Brooklyn! Brooklyn! They gave the Nets something they never had too often in New Jersey, a home court advantage. ”That gave me jitters, man. Chills,” guard Joe Johnson said. ”I know that these fans want the best for this team. All they want from us is to work hard and give them a show.”
C. J. Watson scored 15 points and Joe Johnson added 14 for the Nets. Kyle Lowry had 28 to lead the Raptors while Demar DeRozan chipped in 25. The Raptors fell to 0-2 on the young season.
”We’ve had two games in which we’ve been in the same situation, playing really well at times and then we fall behind. But we’ve fought hard against the Indiana Pacers and the Brooklyn Nets, which are going to be two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. That gives us a lot of confidence,” guard Jose Calderon said.
The Nets have had a difficult week dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane. Their practice facility in East Rutherford, NJ was flooded, forcing them to move practices to Brooklyn. Many of the players’ homes have been without power. Their scheduled home opener against the New York Knicks had to be postponed because much of the city’s mass transit system has been shut down due to the storm.
”It was good to finally be out here with the guys because we’ve been waiting since the last game of last season for this and just to have it pushed back, it was a little rough for us,” Lopez said. ”Like I said, there are some more important things, but we were definitely anxious these last few days.”
The is unbelievable hardship for many in the New York area. Many people lost loved ones, their homes, all their belongings. Basketball won’t do much to east their pain and suffering, but it’s at least something to put a smile on the faces of a lot of people who have not had reason to smile in over a week.
