Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  20 responses

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Deron Williams Downplays Brooklyn Nets’ Win Over New York Knicks

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

The original cross-town matchup was wiped out by Hurricane Sandy, but last night, the Knicks and Nets finally did battle. And it certainly lived up to the unrelenting pre-game hype.

Brooklyn emerged victorious in overtime, and their fans went home with the bragging rights for now. Just ask minority team owner Jay-Z.

According to Nets superstar point guard Deron Williams, though, it was just one win with no special significance.

Per the NY Daily News:

His contributions ended at the free throw line in the final seconds, when Williams was showered with his first “M-V-P” chant as a member of the Nets. Choosing Brooklyn over Dallas never seemed like a better decision than after a statement victory over the crosstown rivals. “This is what they talked about, this is what they visualized,” Williams said after scoring 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field, with six rebounds. “This was a playoff-type atmosphere. It was a great game to be a part of.” Williams again didn’t shoot well – perhaps a result of hurting his wrist Friday – but he compensated with pin-point passes, particularly to Brook Lopez, who finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Less than a year after dropping 38 points against Jeremy Lin, Williams outplayed Raymond Felton – who was 3-for-19 from the field.

“This is what we’ve been dreaming about since I’ve been here,” Avery Johnson said. Still, Williams made sure to throw some cold water on the optimism. “It’s one game. It was a good win for us. But we still have to play (the Knicks) three more times, maybe also in the playoffs,” he said. “So we didn’t win the championship of New York. We won a game, and it was a great win for us.”

The victory pushed Brooklyn past New York in the standings, giving them the edge not just in the city, but more importantly, in the Atlantic Division.

December 19 is the date of the rematch, this time in Manhattan at Madison Square Garden.