Ladies and gentlemen, the New York Knicks are winning. They won both games to start the 2012-2013 N.B.A season. Let’s look at the stories so far.
Sandy Postpones Season Opener
The season opener was scheduled for Nov. 1 last week against the Brooklyn Nets in the brand new Barclays Center. However, due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy specifically in the New York/New Jersey area, the N.B.A. decided to postpone the game. People living in the tristate area were (and some still are) out of power, trees were blocking streets, and subways/trains were running irregularly. Getting to the game promised to be a challenge for at least some ticket holders. New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested the N.B.A. postpone the game between the now city-sharing rivals, and the game was rescheduled for Nov. 26. The tickets for the original game are to be honored at the reset Thanksgiving weekend date. I applaud the decision to postpone the game. Fans’ safety should always come first, even though it meant those of us fortunate enough with power had to wait some 24 hours to witness the Knicks back on the court.
Knicks Beat the Heat!
With the season opener now the home opener at Madison Square Garden versus the 2012 Champions, the Miami Heat, the Knicks knew they had to put on a show. Fans needed a reason to smile after the hurricane. Blowing out the Heat by 20 points sure did the trick, at least for a night. The game opened up with Carmelo Anthony thanking the fans for coming out to the game and Spike Lee’s inspirational video essay, ending with Go New York Go and a fade to black, while the audience roared its approving applause.
“Let’s get it started in here.” Tip off.
The Knicks dominated the entire game. The new faces wore and represented the orange and blue handsomely–Jason Kidd, Pablo Prigioni, Raymond Felton, and even Rasheed Wallace, an instant fan favorite. The old guys–Melo, Steve Novak, and J.R. Smith–didn’t do so bad either. Melo finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds, and Novak shot 5-8 from downtown to add another 17 points.
They sealed the win 104-84.
Then they sealed the win on Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia 76ers too, who they face again tonight on the road. All that’s left to say, as J.R. Smith tweeted,
— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) November 4, 2012
Habeeba Husain 