And thus the hour approacheth. The Knickerbockers laceth up their sneakers and prepareth the first salvo in a battle for supremacy over the city of York the Neweth, against the Nets’ forces that encroacheth closer now than the parched waste-dungeons to the west, where they once wereth.
Eth.
Record: 9-3
- Offense: 1
- Defense: 18
- Overall: 2
8-4
- Offense: 6
- Defense: 19
- Overall: 9
***
Something’s gotta give:
- The Nets get a lot of second chance points. They rank 7th in the league in OffReb%. The Knicks, as we know, are smallish, but they corral a fair amount defensive rebounds (10th in DefReb%). Can the Knicks keep New Jersey off the offensive glass?
- Turnovers:
- The Nets rank 24th in points off turnovers. The Knicks rank first in turnover rate.
- Can the Knicks capitalize tonight by combining their care with the ball with the Nets’ ineptitude in converting on turnovers?
- The Nets are 9th in turnover rate. The Knicks force turnovers at the third highest rate and are the 5th most efficient in converting them into points.
- Can the Knicks coerce the Nets to cough up more turnovers then they’re ordinarily prone to (>14ish, adjusted for pace) in order to capitalize on their own efficiency in converting turnovers?
- The Nets rank 24th in points off turnovers. The Knicks rank first in turnover rate.
- Expect a slow game. Both teams are in the bottom five in pace.
***
Offense, defense and overall rankings are based on ORtg, DRtg, and John Hollinger’s Power Rankings, respectively (which tells you far more than just NetRtg, which I was previously using). Hollinger’s method.
Source: NBA.com/stats; Espn.com
