On the Hardwood
After three games it has become evident that the Brooklyn Nets have drastically improved on their dismal 2015-2016 season where they posted just 21 wins. With a new coach, a refurbished roster and an optimistic outlook, the Nets have shown that they will be much more competitive this year in a tightly contested Atlantic Division.
In their three contests, Brooklyn has lost their two road games to Boston and Milwaukee, but the Nets won their home opener against Indiana on Friday night. Unlike last year, the Nets have not been kicking themselves with horrible starts where they find themselves in double digit deficits early in the game. Dreadful starts are what plagued this team last year. And despite losing to the Celtics and Bucks, Brooklyn lost both of those games by 5 and 2 points respectively. This team is competing and it is showing on both the court and in the box score.
At a 1-2 record, it is still way to early to assess any type of judgment on how far this team can go. Yet, we have seen glimpses of success so far that had been absent in years past. Much of this positivity can be attributed to Jeremy Lin. The Big Apple, and specifically Brooklyn itself has been chomping at the bit to see what Linsanity can bring to the table as the new Kings County floor general and thus far, Lin has been everything that Nets fans had hoped he would be.
In terms of Lin’s stellar play, look no further than on Friday night where he engineered the offense coming close to a triple double with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Throughout the game fans were feeding off of Linsanity’s presence and there was a buzz at Barclays Center that was missing for a long time. The team played with a lot of grit and Lin spoke about it in his post game comments.
“We played with our heart tonight,” said Jeremy Lin. “You saw that from a lot of guys and a lot of guys made big-time plays.”
Aside from Lin, Brook Lopez, who was the lone bright spot last season, has not missed a beat. While Head Coach Kenny Atkinson decided to rest the center on Saturday in Milwaukee, it was in the home opener where Lopez owned the paint, putting up 25 points, helping the Nets beat a possibly playoff bound Indiana team.
Clearly, better things are on the horizon for this team and their fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Also, time will tell if Kenny Atkisnon is the right skipper to steer the ship, but there is no doubt that the Long Island native seems ready for his first head coaching gig.
Tonight Brooklyn will be back in action at Barclays Center where they will take on Dwayne Wade and the new look Chicago Bulls in a Halloween contest. This begins a four game home-stand for the Nets, right here in Brooklyn.
On the Ice
After losing on back to back nights in the middle of week to Montreal and Pittsburgh, the New York Islanders got back to their winning ways on Sunday night in Brooklyn. Topping the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 at Barclays Center, the Isles earned their fourth win at home this season.
The Isles jumped out of the gates in the first period to get on the board and from that point forward, they never relinquished the lead.This was a collective offensive effort where Shane Prince and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist. Also, Casey Cizikas, Josh Bailey and Travis Hamonic all scored goals for the Islanders (4-5-0), Things got close as the game headed towards crunch time, but the Isles had three unanswered goals in the third period, helping to avoid three game losing streak.The key for the Isles victory was tightly contested defense and Thomas Greiss gave a superb effort with 33 saves.
Sunday was an emotional night for the team and their fans since Matt Martin, the former heart and soul of the franchise, made his return to play against his former team. After spending seven seasons with the Isles, Martin left for Toronto in the offs-season. Certainly this was a game where a lot of fans wanted to come out and show their respect to a former player that had given tis organization everything that he had and then some.
The Isles now begin a 4 game home stand at Barclays Center. They will be back in action on Tuesday night in a must see rematch against the Tampa Bay Lighting. Tampa Bay defeated the Isles in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season.
