Knicks vs. Nets: Knicks Will Get Revenge in Second Meeting of Rivals

Outside of the floundering Los Angeles Lakers, few teams have been talked about more than the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, though perhaps for different reasons.

The Knicks are 15-5 and have beaten the Miami Heat twice, surprisingly starting the season as strong as any other team in the NBA.

The Nets have been pretty good too, but they're being talked about more in the team's maiden season in Brooklyn because Jay-Z shows up to the game and the new arena is pretty dope, as I think the kids are still saying these days.

Oh, and when the teams first met the Nets pulled off a 96-89 win against the Knicks, signaling that the Nets were a legit team this season, New York wasn't only a Knicks town any longer and the potential was there for this to become a heated rivalry.

This time around, however, the Knicks will exact their revenge. Since the teams last played, the Knicks have won seven of eight games, while the Nets are currently mired in a four-game losing streak and have fallen to 11-8 on the year.

That slide has coincided with Brook Lopez's right foot sprain, which will cost him a sixth straight game when the teams meet on Tuesday night. And without Lopez in the middle—who scored 22 points and brought down 11 rebounds when the teams first met, by the way—the Nets won't win this game.

Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony has been the early season MVP, while the Knicks will have Jason Kidd, who was missing from the first contest, this time around.

And yeah, if you don't think the Knicks have revenge on the mind, think again. They may not openly admit it, but hearing folks talk about the Nets being the new kids in New York surely got on the Knicks' nerves.

When your franchise has owned the Big Apple for years, you don't want to hear about some team that just moved to Brooklyn laying claim to your city. That's the stuff rivalries are made of.

It all adds up to the Knicks bouncing back and handling the Nets on Tuesday evening. Brooklyn took round one.

Round two will go to Manhattan. 

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets prefer the Sixers.