NEW YORK vs BROOKLYN 10/19/2018 Odds, Picks & Preview

The New York Knicks are in a holding pattern with star forward Kristaps Porzingis unavailable while recovering from knee surgery and the front office reportedly gearing up for free agency next summer, but the team on the floor might prove to be a lot of fun. The Knicks will try to make it consecutive wins to begin the season when they visit the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.

New York did not come into the season with high expectations but unveiled a high-paced offense in the season opener under new coach David Fizdale and delighted fans with a 129-107 victory over the Hawks that featured solid debuts from rookie guards Kevin Knox and Allonzo Trier. “All I want to see at the end of the day, are we getting better every day at what we talk about, at what we work at?” Fizdale told reporters. “Is our culture getting stronger every day? Are people buying in and really committing to what we’re trying to do? Are players getting better? At the end of the year, hopefully we can say our player development and how we grew these guys and the way we committed to the competition and committed to each other, we can look back and say we didn’t cheat that.” The Nets are in building mode as well and fell just short with a 103-100 loss at Detroit in Wednesday’s opener. “We had opportunities,” Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters. “We had open shots that didn’t go down. We just didn’t close it out. I thought we did a lot of positive things today.”

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), YES (Brooklyn)

ABOUT THE KNICKS (1-0): New York is expected to go after high-profile free agents like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving next summer but for now will rely on veterans like shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and center Enes Kanter to guide the youngsters. Hardaway enjoyed the most success in Fizdale’s fast-paced attack on Wednesday, collecting 31 points, six rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals in the win. Fizdale went with three guards in the starting lineup, using point guards Trey Burke and Frank Ntilikina with Hardaway, and ran a smaller lineup most of the night with Kanter (27 minutes) and power forward Noah Vonleh (16 minutes) the only big men to get significant run.

ABOUT THE NETS (0-1): Brooklyn got a big night from its starting shooting guard in the opener as well, with Caris LeVert scoring 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting. LeVert was getting a shot in the starting lineup due to a trio of injuries to starters DeMarre Carroll (ankle), Allen Crabbe (ankle) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (groin). The extra minutes available proved to be a good thing for reserve point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who recorded 23 points and six assists in 32 minutes.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Nets PG Shabazz Napier (hamstring), PF Kenneth Faried (ankle) and PF Alan Williams (knee) are all questionable to make their season debuts on Friday.

2. New York swept the four-game season series in 2017-18 and averaged 115 points in two victories at Brooklyn.

3. Carroll underwent arthroscopic ankle surgery on Tuesday and is out indefinitely.

PREDICTION: Knicks 115, Nets 111