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Sports
With Irving fully in the fold, the Nets’ battle for playoff seeding intensifies
By VINCENT DAVIS Special to the AmNews
As it relates to Kyrie Irving, whether the Nets play games at home at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn or on the road, with the exception of in Toronto versus the Raptors, is no longer an issue. New York City Mayor Eric Adams eased the city’s vaccine restrictions last week, allowing unvaccinated athletes and entertainers to work inside public venues. Canada still bans travelers that are unvaccinated from entering the country.
Irving made his home debut on Sunday, scoring 16 points and with 11 assists in a 119-110 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
“It was great to see him out there,” said Nets forward Kevin Durant after the game. “Good to see the fans excited for him.” Irving played his second game at home on Monday, dropping 28 points on 7-18 shooting in a 130123 Nets’ win. Durant led the team with 41 points. Center Andre Drummond had another strong game with 14 points and 13 rebounds. The victory put the Nets at 40-36 and moved them to the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, one game ahead of the 39-37 No. 9 seed Hornets when the NBA’s schedule began last night. The Nets were 2.5 games behind the No. 7 seed Cleveland Cavaliers, who were 42-33. The Nets have six regular season games remaining, beginning tonight in Brooklyn against the Milwaukee Bucks. When the regular season ends, the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th seeds in the East and Western Conferences start the postseason in the Play-In Tournament, which
will match the 7th seed hosting the 8th seeded team in each conference and the 9th seed meeting the 8th seed on the road. The winner of the 7-8 pairing earns the 7th seed to open the playoffs. The loser of the 7-8 game will host the winner of the 9-10 game. The winner of that game becomes the 8th seed and starts the postseason taking on the No.1 overall seed. If the current standings hold, which is unlikely given how unpredictable the final 10 days are shaping up to be, in the East, the Nets would be on the road to play the Cavaliers and the Hornets would face the No. 10 seed Atlanta Hawks in Charlotte. The Nets are hoping that forward Ben Simmons, who was acquired in a trade AMNEWS last month that sent guard James Harden 01/06/22 0 74470 22784 7 to the Philadelphia 76ers, can join the lineup sometime over the next six games. The 25-year-old, three-time All-Star, who sat out the season in a dispute with the Sixers, is now experiencing back issues. Before playing the Pistons on Tuesday, Nets head coach Steve Nash said there are no new updates on Simmons and the two-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection has not had another MRI. The Knicks’ make a late season surge but will fall short of the Play-In
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After making his Nets home debut on Sunday versus the Charlotte Hornets, Kyrie Irving scored 24 points on Tuesday at the Barclays Center in a 130-123 Nets win over the Detroit Pistons (Bill Moore photo) 01114
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Knicks second-year forward Obi Toppin has shown evident improvement in the latter stages of this season (Bill Moore photo)
By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
Despite an impressive late season surge, the math is against the Knicks in their hopes of salvaging what has been a regression from last season. Heading into their game last night at Madison Square Garden versus the Eastern Conference’s No. 9 seed Charlotte Hornets and their sensational 20-year-old, second-year point guard LaMelo Ball, the Knicks were 34-42, had won four games in a row for the first time this season, and were 9-4 over their previous 13 games.
Yet after a 41-31 record last season and the No. 4 seed in the East entering the playoffs, the Knicks, the No. 11 seed in the conference before facing the Hornets, won’t even make the Play-In Tournament. The four PlayIn spots are reserved for the No. 7 to No. 10 seeds. The Knicks were trailing the No. 10 seed Atlanta Hawks by 4.5 games when the NBA’s schedule began yesterday and would have to be the recipients of a divine miracle to catch the Hawks.
They will host the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Garden on Saturday, play the Magic in Orlando on Sunday, meet up with the Brooklyn Nets at MSG next Wednesday, will be in Washington on April 8 to challenge the Wizards, and conclude the season April 10 at home against the Toronto Raptors. The Knicks’ recent upward trend is a testament to their resilience and professional pride. They have not hung their collective heads in despondence or put forth excuses for not meeting their own expectations.
“We’re just playing hard,” said center Mitchell Robinson after the Knicks’ 109-104 victory at home over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night. “We want to see what we can make out of the rest of the season, so we just want to make something happen.”
The 23-year-old Robinson, the 36th overall pick by the Knicks in the 2018 draft, will be an unrestricted free-agent this summer and the target of several teams. In 69 games this season before last night’s matchup with Charlotte, he was averaging 8.5 points on 76.3% shooting, 8.6 rebounds and fourth in
the NBA in blocks at 1.8 blocks. Several other young Knicks have been significant contributors in their positive stretch AMNEWS of games, notably guard Immanuel Quickley and forward Obi Toppin. Quickley has 01/20/22 0 74470 22784 7 shown marked improvement running the offense and while rediscovering his shooting touch that was inconsistent the first half of the season. Overall the 25-year-old 2020 first round pick (No. 25) is averaging 10.6 points and 3.2 assists. Toppin, taken No. 8 in the first round by the Knicks in 2020, has not made the major strides many predicted he would a year later. However, he is finishing strong and showing promise. In the prior nine games he has played leading into last night, Toppin was averaging 11.3 points on 60% percent shooting and 38% percent on 3-point attempts in 19 minutes of playing time. He has also demonstrated impactful activity on the defensive end of the floor.
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