Defensively, it was another bad night for the club as the Islanders launched 38 shots and controlled play at both ends of the ice. Darius Kasparitis had only 10 minutes of ice time and looked lost. On the plus side, Thomas Pock looked good, but the Rangers need to figure out how to fix things quickly. more ›

Beating the Mavericks at home is one thing. So is beating the Pistons at home. But to beat Detroit on the road, like the Nets did Sunday 79-74, proves something more. It proves not only that they can prove dangerous in the upcoming playoffs, but that they're peaking at the right time. New Jersey has won eight straight and has split the season series with Detriot 2-2. Sunday's win came with stingy defense and a slow-it-down approach. more ›

Sometimes the Knicks and the NBA makes Gothamist scratch its head. That's what happened during the Knicks' 105-103 victory Detroit at the Garden Friday. A team that could be bound for its third straight NBA Finals lost to a team that would be bound for the lottery had it not traded its pick away unprotected to the Chicago Bulls. With a loss to the lowly Bobcats in the rear-view mirror, the Knicks knocked off the league's best team. more ›

Do you think Larry Brown might be reconsidering his decision to leave Detroit for New York? Since Detroit is a league-best 32-5, it is probably safe to assume that they have no regrets about Larry’s departure. Thursday they showed their old coach that he has a lot of work to do if he wants to ever see the NBA Finals again. more ›

Unlike the Nets, this figures to be a relatively slow offseason for the Knicks. New GM Isiah Thomas already spent much of the season turning over the roster and trading away anyone associated with deposed GM Scott Layden. Only Allan Houston, Shandon Anderson, Frank Williams, Kurt Thomas, Mike Sweetney and Othella Harrington remain from opening day. more ›

Gothamist wonders what's going through the minds of Pistons players right now. They thought they had the Nets all figured out, but you can never count out a champion. The two teams meet again Friday at The Palace for game 5. We're liking the Gothamist/Whatevs Smackdown a little more now that the series is even. more ›

Last night's win gives Gothamist some hope for our bet with Whatevs (Shut up! We can dream, can't we?). Hopefully, the Nets can use this game as a building block to win three more. Jefferson will need help from the rest of the team to do that. Yes, we're dreaming. Game 4 is Tuesday at 8 p.m. in New Jersey. more ›

Okay, maybe Gothamist was a bit optimistic about the Nets/Pistons series yesterday when we said, "Gothamist thinks it could be an excellent series," or "this series is as good as the Eastern Conference gets," but we did say "could" and that "we don't typically get too excited for NBA action since it's not that fantastic anymore." So we're off the hook, right? We'll pin everything on the Nets, who played an ugly, ugly game, losing to the Pistons, 78-56 (box score), halting their 14 game playoff win streak within the conference. The Nets were stifled by the praise-worthy Pistons defense, who stopped almost everything the Nets attempted. more ›

With improvements on both the Nets and Pistons, both teams know that this series will be different than last year. The Pistons acquired Rasheed Wallace at the trade deadline this season and went 20-6 after he joined the team. In their one game since the Wallace trade, the Pistons beat the Nets, 89-71. That game ended the Pistons' record-setting streak of holding opponents under 70 points at 5 games, which the Pistons were not happy about. The Nets were fouling in the final moments of the game to get the ball back and scored a basket with 1.1 seconds left to give them 71 for the game. more ›