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The usual NBA policy on the status of a game is to play it if both teams and the three referees can make it to the arena. That wouldn't have been a problem, one of the reasons the league originally planned to play as scheduled.
However, the league also wanted to be sensitive because it was the Nets' first game, televised to a national TV audience on TNT, and didn't want the team's big event to be one that was largely empty.
"Mayor Bloomberg informed us this afternoon that after further analysis of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy that he felt it was in the best interests of the city of New York, the teams and our fans that we postpone the Knicks-Nets game scheduled for Thursday night," NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. "Our thoughts are with all those affected by this devastating storm."
The Nets are still practicing in New Jersey this season, yet moved practice to Barclays Center after their facility in East Rutherford suffered damage from the storm. Rookie Tyshawn Taylor was unable to make it, stuck in his Hoboken home.
The NBA had said Tuesday night that the game would go on as scheduled, and fans were eager for what would have been the first major sports game in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left for Brooklyn in 1957. Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, a Brooklyn native, called it a "monumental" event for the borough.
Bloomberg said he planned to attend with his daughters and girlfriend and said players wanted to play, but he and the Nets agreed that it was better to wait.
"The right thing to do," Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "We all would have loved to play, to bring, hopefully, the people that have power or some of the fans that could've made it to the building, we would have loved to have brought them some sense of entertainment or joy or whatever, but, at the same time, all of the people who were responsible for making this decision, it was the right thing to do."
The Nets are working with the league to find a makeup date. Tickets for Thursday's game will be honored for the rescheduled game.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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