Small group of fans at Barclays Center give Nets a boost
Fans are seen at Barclays Center before an NBA game between the Nets and the Kings on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The early-arriving fans started trickling into Barclays Center on Tuesday night in groups of two, or four, but no more than that.
They cautiously made their way to their very, very, very separated seating pods and looked out at the court to watch the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings go through their pre-game paces.
As the 7:30 tipoff grew closer, more of them filed in. Fans. People. Humans.
It wasn’t the 17,732 fans the arena normally holds for basketball. It wasn’t the 10 percent of that figure that would have been allowed in under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s edict that went into effect on Tuesday.
No, the Nets only allowed in 300 fans. It looked, to be honest, like 300 people in a place that can hold 17,732.
It also looked quite divine.
"It’s nice," Nets coach Steve Nash said before the game. "It’s a nice change. Obviously, we’ve been playing in [empty] stadiums, for the most part, especially at home, so to have some fans add a little bit of life and energy will be nice. Hopefully, we can safely incorporate more fans as we go here."
At 7:10 p.m., the first announcement to greet fans was kind of a downer — a recorded announcement telling patrons how to exit the area in the event of an emergency.
Once the game started, piped-in fan noise was still used. The public address announcer’s screeching and earsplitting sound effects were still the most dominant sounds.
But there was also real clapping, and real cheering, under the artificial stuff. And Nets fans have had a lot to cheer about lately.
The Nets returned to Brooklyn off their franchise-best 5-0 Western swing and with a six-game winning streak — the last four without the injured Kevin Durant (left hamstring strain). Even without Durant, the Nets seemed to be putting it all together since a Feb. 9 loss at Detroit dropped their record to 14-12.
What has been the difference?
"If I would say one word, I would say simply, toughness," Nash said. "I think we look back to the Detroit game and how poor our application was. That’s not toughness. Mentally, physically, we were a shadow of ourselves. This last six games, I think our toughness has been there. We’ve been willing mentally, physically, and emotionally to lay it on the line every night. I know that’s clichés, but it’s the truth. That’s why they are things that you need, and so we turned a little corner there where we’ve had the application, the toughness and the concentration levels that allow us to win slightly different ways and we have a lot of shot-makers. We’re going to score points. It’s just, how can we defend, how can we rebound, how can we take care of the basketball and every night we’ve found a different way to kind of win the game.
"That’s, like I keep saying, a non-negotiable step in any team’s aspirations -- is to have that resolve and toughness and connectivity. I’ve been saying that since Day One and we’re starting to see more consistent efforts. I just get a sense that our guys are coming together a little more off the floor, as well. They’re finding a bit of a bond and a joy playing together and fighting for one another and that is -- other than the toughness and application I talked about -- the fact that those guys have come together a little bit more, look like they like each other and want to play for each other has been the most positive part of the last six games."
The Nets played on Tuesday without the injured Jeff Green (right shoulder contusion) and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (right hip contusion), both of whom missed their first game of the season.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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