Game 13 Preview: New York Knicks (9-3) at Brooklyn Nets (8-4)

Before being traded to the Knicks, there was much speculation--and nearly a deal in place--stating that Carmelo Anthony was going to be a Net and open up the Barclays Center with the team. Like with Dwight Howard, it was nothing more than speculation.

When: 7:00 pm; Monday, November 26th, 2012

Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY

TV: TNT

Tonight's game may have been postponed nearly four weeks, but that doesn't mean it has lost any of its flair or any of the excitement that it's going to bring to both teams and the Barclays Center. The first-ever NBA regular season matchup of two New York City teams is momentous as a milestone for the league, the city, and these two teams, especially the Nets, in their maiden season as a NYC basketball team. The storylines are galore: Jason Kidd playing against the team he led to two Eastern Conference championships, Carmelo Anthony playing against the team he was almost traded to like three times, the fight for "Best Team in NYC" award, the fight for the Atlantic Division crown (Knicks are currently in 1st, Nets in 2nd), among many others. However, once it comes down to it, all the matters is the score when the clock hits 0:00 in the fourth quarter (or in the last overtime period they play, just in case).

As many of you know, the Knicks got off to a ridiculously hot start to the season, winning their first six games. Not even strength of schedule could be cited as the reason for the winning streak, as the Knicks beat the defending champion Heat and always-tough Spurs on the bookends of the six-game stretch, with wins over the 76ers (twice), Mavericks, and lowly Magic filling out the rest of the games. And this was all done without Amare' Stoudamire, who was, and still is, out with a knee injury. Contrary to preseason belief, the Knicks were unstoppable early on, draining tons of three-pointers per game at ridiculous clips, led by Carmelo, J.R. Smith, and even Raymond Felton. It defied logic, but won games.

Then, a loss to the Grizzlies (sitting at 9-2 right now) in Memphis shocked the Knicks right back to Earth and eliminated their chance at a perfect season. They rebounded well, taking care of the Pacers and Hornets but had a rough stretch through Dallas, giving up 122.5 points per game in back-to-back losses to Dallas and Houston and Jeremy Lin. Finally, an easy win over the hapless Pistons yesterday at the Garden brought them to their current record of 9-3. An up-and-down season to be sure, with more ups than downs so far for Mike Woodson's club.

Jason Kidd Willing to Return to the Nets: Sign Us Up!

Remember this guy? He led the Nets, yes the Nets, to a few Finals appearances in the early 2000s. Would a return to the Nets spark the same success? I don't know, but I certainly hope so

In a recent ESPNNewYork.com piece, former Net fan favorite and future NBA hall-of-fame point guard Jason Kidd said he would be open to a return to the Nets organization, presumably in a back-up role. Like Deron Williams, who J-Kidd would back-up if he re-signs with the Nets, Kidd is a free agent this offseason and counts the Mavericks and Nets as two of his most-favored destinations.

I know that Jordan Farmar will probably exercise his $4 million player-option to remain in Brooklyn next season and the potential clog at the point guard position if Deron and Kidd sign with the Nets would be salary-cap draining. Farmar is a solid player who obviously has more upside than Kidd but he would probably be moved via trade if D-Will and J-Kidd are Brooklyn Nets next season.

This is all speculation right now and mainly depends on what Deron decides to do this summer with his free agency, news of which has been varied and mainly non-committal from D-Will's camp. Deron has said that he wants to sign before the Olympics, which starts in July, so we should expect some more news to filter through the grapevine in the upcoming weeks and days. Getting a little ahead of ourselves, a point guard tandem of D-Will and J-Kidd would be very potent on offense and would make the Nets' backcourt extremely hard to defend for most NBA teams.

Kidd isn't as agile or youthful as he used to be but still plays as hard as he has done for his whole career and is a major facilitator on the offensive end. Imagine Kidd kicking it out to Morrow for some open second-team 3-pointers. Wouldn't that be a deadly proposition for the teams unlucky enough to face the Nets next year? Yes, yes it would be.