Josh Hart predicted it.
asserted
Hart → predict → it
Really, we all did.
asserted
we → do → ?
“Wherever LeBron [James] went in the East, I figured that’d probably be our opening night [game],” Hart said after Knicks practice Sunday.
asserted
Hart → go → practice
With training camp and the preseason over, all attention now turns to the opener against the 76ers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
asserted
attention → turn → Garden
With it being banner/ring night and the opener, there is already plenty of intrigue and attention.
asserted
it → be → intrigue
But it is impossible to escape all the extras involved.
asserted
it → escape → extras
The NBA, with LeBron and Jaylen Brown joining the 76ers to create a supposed “superteam” this offseason, is clearly interested in making this a rivalry and season-long storyline.
asserted
this → join → superteam
The two teams play each other twice in the opening six games — both on national television.
asserted
teams → play → television
Most have labeled the 76ers — with a core of James, Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe — as the biggest threat to the Knicks’ chances of repeating as champions.
asserted
Most → label → champions
Add in the close geographical distance, the recent playoff history between the two teams and the fact LeBron has publicly said he envisioned finishing his career with the Knicks had they not won the title (and is living part-time in New York City), and there are all the ingredients of a renewed rivalry.
asserted
they → add → rivalry
Mike Brown’s first head coaching gig was coaching James with the Cavaliers.
asserted
gig → coach → Cavaliers
He knows that when James is involved, everything is just bigger.
asserted
everything → know → ?
“The reality of it, in coach talk, you want to say every game is the same,” the Knicks coach said Sunday.
asserted
coach → want → talk
“That’s what you try to impress upon your guys is, ‘Hey, when we step on the floor, no matter who’s in front of us, you want to give the same focus, energy and effort to the next possession in front of you.’
asserted
you → ’ → you
“You also gotta look at the guys they have on the team and the guys they’ve added and the potential of that team and what we accomplished and what we’re trying to accomplish again — all those storylines, with the social media and all that other stuff, it’s pressed upon you, pressed upon you, pressed upon you, so it gets larger than life in general.”
asserted
it → got → life
The Knicks would like to treat it like any of the other 82 regular-season games.
asserted
Knicks → like → games
But the reality is that, one way or the other, it will be used as an early statement in what could become a relentless discourse.
uncertain
what → use → statement
“As a coach, you hope it doesn’t, but at times yes, you have to take into account that yes, it can be something that guys think, ‘OK, this is a big game,’” Brown said.
asserted
Brown → hope → that
“It gives you a little bit more juice, a little bit more energy because of all the stuff around it.
asserted
It → give → it
Is it gonna be a rivalry at the end of the day?
asserted
it → go → day
I don’t know.
asserted
I → know → ?
I don’t know where we’re gonna be and where they’re gonna be. …
asserted
they → know → ?
Yeah, it’s a fun story.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
The two teams also represent opposites of sorts.
asserted
teams → represent → sorts
The Knicks are a bastion of stability, returning nine of their top 10 players in terms of minutes played last year.
asserted
Knicks → return → minutes
It’s a group that knows each other well and has exceptional chemistry.
asserted
that → ’ → chemistry
The 76ers, by contrast, are a newly assembled unit that must come together quickly with immediate championship expectations.
asserted
that → assemble → expectations
“Obviously, we have the same team, but sometimes individuals’ expectations are different than what they were before,” Hart said.
asserted
Hart → have → what
“So it’s different.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
Especially a team like that, I’m sure they’re gonna have some bumpy times in the beginning of the year because they gotta get used to playing with each other.
asserted
they → ’m → other
The media at that point [will say,] ‘They should blow it up and trade everybody’ and those kinds of things.
asserted
They → say → things
That’s kind of the world we live in.
asserted
we → ’ → ?
The world we live in will have a dramatic reaction to Tuesday’s result.
asserted
we → live → result
The Aporia
