The New York Knicks are on the slide as they prepare to take on the Brooklyn Nets for the first time this season.
Knicks fans appeared destined to be casting envious glances across New York after the Nets beat them to the signatures of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in 2019, but the start of this season gave them a reason to feel slightly more content.
After finishing with a losing record for seven straight years, there was finally cause for optimism at Madison Square Garden early this season - the Knicks were above .500 through eight games for the first time since 2012-13, which was when they last made the postseason.
However, they have dropped their past three straight, losing by double figures on each occasion and failing to score more than 89 points, and concern has started to brew.
Things have not been straightforward for the Nets either, though.
While a 122-116 win against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday lifted them to a 6-6 record, Irving is said to be facing an NBA investigation following a video of him attending an event without a mask on.
Irving has missed four games due to "personal reasons", with the Nets refusing to elaborate on the situation. He is not expected to return to their line-up this week.
Durant has also missed time this season due to COVID-19 protocols and is set to feature in both games of a back-to-back for just the second time since returning from an Achilles tear.
TOP PERFORMERS
Brooklyn Nets – Kevin Durant
Durant has not taken long to start firing once again. He is averaging 29.9 points per game this season, second only to Bradley Beal (34.9) in the league.
Against the Nuggets he put up 34 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds, making him the first Nets player to have those numbers since the team moved to Brooklyn from New Jersey in 2012.
The last player to achieve that stat line for the franchise was Hall of Famer Jason Kidd in December 2006, when he had 38 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists against the Phoenix Suns.
Having sat out the previous campaign through injury, Durant is facing the Knicks for the first time since he snubbed them for the Nets.
Durant famously said "the cool thing right now is not the Knicks" after signing for the Nets and will be eager to show he made the right decision.
New York Knicks – Julius Randle
If the Knicks are to upset their local rivals they are going to need Randle to quickly get back on form.
He had season lows in points and rebounds (11 and five respectively) against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, while in only one game this season has he had fewer than the five assists he posted versus Charlotte (three against the Philadelphia 76ers).
Despite that lacklustre showing, he joined Oscar Robertson as the only two players in NBA history to register at least 200 points, 115 rebounds and 70 assists in their team's first 10 games of a season.
He leads the Knicks in points (22.1), rebounds (11.2) and assists (6.9) per game in 2020-21.
KEY BATTLE: KNICKS NEED DEFENSIVE BOOST
The Nets have been one of the best teams at shooting the three this season with an average success rate of 39.3 per cent, which is only bettered by the Milwaukee Bucks (41.1) and the Los Angeles Clippers (42.4).
They average 118.8 points per game, which is 18.7 more than the Knicks, so it is clear that New York's defense is going to have a huge role to play.
They had the seventh-best defensive rating in the league prior to their three game skid, with injuries to Reggie Bullock, Alec Burks, Frank Ntilikina and Obi Toppin meaning coach Tom Thibodeau is demanding a lot from his key players.
RJ Barrett and Julius Randle are in the top five for minutes played this season, while they rank first and third respectively for minutes per game.
Thibodeau needs to strike a better balance to help boost his team's defense against one of the toughest and deepest opponents in the league.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Nets have dropped their past two games against the Knicks, though they split the season series 2-2 last season.
Durant has not played against the Knicks for two years but averages 28.5 points with a 16-3 record since entering the league.
NBA: Heat get even with Celtics; Thunder roll Pelicans for 2-0 lead
Tyler Herro had 24 points and 14 assists and hit six of Miami’s franchise playoff-record 23 3-pointers as the Heat defeated the Boston Celtics, 111-101, to even their first-round series at a game apiece on Wednesday.
Bam Adebayo had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Caleb Martin added 21 points with five 3s for the Heat, who shot 53.5 percent (23 of 43) from long range to break the franchise playoff record of 20 3s, set against Milwaukee in 2021.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. contributed 14 points with three 3s, Nikola Jovic added a trio of 3s, nine rebounds and six assists and Haywood Highsmith came off the bench to hit three 3s.
The series shifts to Miami for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday.
Jaylen Brown scored 33 points and Jayson Tatum added 28 for the top-seeded Celtics, who cut Miami’s lead to 102-96 with three minutes left. But Martin hit a 3 and Herro made a driving layup to essentially seal the win.
Tatum scored 14 points in the first quarter and showed no ill effects after he was undercut by Martin while going after a rebound in the final minute in Game 1.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren power Thunder
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and Chet Holmgren added 26 to lead the hot-shooting Oklahoma City Thunder to a 124-92 rout of the New Orleans Pelicans and a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round series.
Jalen Williams had 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Thunder, who shot 59 percent (46 for 78) from the floor and made 14 of 29 (48.3 percent) from 3-point range.
Game 3 will be Sunday in New Orleans.
Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and Herbert Jones and Brandon Ingram each added 18 as the Pelicans continued to struggle offensively without injured star Zion Williamson (strained left hamstring).
New Orleans missed 19 of 26 from beyond the arc and made 33 field goals to 46 for Oklahoma City.
NBA acknowledges refereeing errors in 76ers chaotic loss to Knicks
The NBA has acknowledged numerous refereeing errors after the Philadelphia 76ers were on the wrong end of late decisions in a chaotic defeat to the New York Knicks.
Nick Nurse, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey all voiced 76ers frustration after the Knicks came back from 101-96 down to win 104-101 on Monday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final series.
Philadelphia coach Nurse suggested his timeout calls were ignored on two separate occasions in the frantic finale, while Maxey and Embiid were left aggrieved with foul decisions during the same period.
In its Last Two Minute Report, the league concurred with the 76ers claims after admitting Maxey was fouled in the build-up to Jalen Brunson's 3-pointer that cut Philadelphia's lead to just two.
The same report also found that Maxey was illegally felled by Josh Hart, turning over for Donte DiVincenzo missing a decisive go-ahead 3-pointer before making the winning shot with 13 seconds remaining.
"[Maxey] did his job," Embiid said after the game when asked about the turnover in the closing seconds. "That's on the league. That's on the NBA.
"That's on the referees. I hate to put the game on them. But I am sure the two-minute report is going to come out and we are going to see what happened."
Maxey blamed himself and refused to dwell on the matter after the 76ers fell 2-0 down in the best-of-seven series, while Nurse was also left disappointed on the sidelines by the officiating.
Nurse claimed he twice attempted to call timeout, with the league's report acknowledging one of those should have been granted when 76ers point guard Kyle Lowry was inbounding the ball.
"I guess I got to run out onto the floor or do something to make sure and get his attention, but I needed a timeout there to advance it," Nurse lamented after the game.
The Last Two Minutes Report reviewed two other errors in officiating, having missed an Embiid foul on DiVincenzo before Brunson's 3-pointer and a defensive violation by Knicks forward OG Anunoby.
Though the NBA acknowledged the mistakes, no replay will be granted – a decision the Knicks are all too familiar with.
New York wanted a replay earlier this season after referee Jacyn Goble made an incorrect call for a foul on Houston Rockets guard Aaron Holiday, though that call was labelled as human error.
Both teams will be hoping for less drama when Games 3 and 4 come on Thursday and Sunday in Philadelphia.
NBA acknowledge refereeing errors in 76ers chaotic loss to Knicks
The NBA has acknowledged numerous refereeing errors after the Philadelphia 76ers were on the wrong end of late decisions in a chaotic defeat to the New York Knicks.
Nick Nurse, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey all voiced 76ers frustration after the Knicks came back from 101-96 down to win 104-101 on Monday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final series.
Philadelphia coach Nurse suggested his timeout calls were ignored on two separate occasions in the frantic finale, while Maxey and Embiid were left aggrieved with foul decisions during the same period.
In its Last Two Minute Report, the league concurred with the 76ers claims after admitting Maxey was fouled in the build-up to Jalen Brunson's 3-pointer that cut Philadelphia's lead to just two.
The same report also found that Maxey was illegally felled by Josh Hart, turning over for Donte DiVincenzo missing a decisive go-ahead 3-pointer before making the winning shot with 13 seconds remaining.
"[Maxey] did his job," Embiid said after the game when asked about the turnover in the closing seconds. "That's on the league. That's on the NBA.
"That's on the referees. I hate to put the game on them. But I am sure the two-minute report is going to come out and we are going to see what happened."
Maxey blamed himself and refused to dwell on the matter after the 76ers fell 2-0 down in the best-of-seven series, while Nurse was also left disappointed on the sidelines by the officiating.
Nurse claimed he twice attempted to call timeout, with the league's report acknowledging one of those should have been granted when 76ers point guard Kyle Lowry was inbounding the ball.
"I guess I got to run out onto the floor or do something to make sure and get his attention, but I needed a timeout there to advance it," Nurse lamented after the game.
The Last Two Minutes Report reviewed two other errors in officiating, having missed an Embiid foul on DiVincenzo before Brunson's 3-pointer and a defensive violation by Knicks forward OG Anunoby.
Though the NBA acknowledged the mistakes, no replay will be granted – a decision the Knicks are all too familiar with.
New York wanted a replay earlier this season after referee Jacyn Goble made an incorrect call for a foul on Houston Rockets guard Aaron Holiday, though that call was labelled as human error.
Both teams will be hoping for less drama when Games 3 and 4 come on Thursday and Sunday in Philadelphia.
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