Two New York Rivalries Unfold On Consecutive Nights As Islanders Beat Rangers And Nets Dominate Knicks

In recent times, the Rangers and Islanders never see their playoff schedules intersect where they play each other to decide who advances. Neither do the Knicks and Nets but occasionally the regular season schedule unfolds in a way where both rivalries play out on consecutive nights such as this week.

The Rangers and Islanders last played a playoff series in 1994, the first and easiest four of the 16 the Rangers needed to stop hearing chants of 1940 which ultimately happened on June 14, 1994.

The same year the Knicks dispatched the Nets in four games in a best-of-five before going the distance to eliminate the Bulls in the only full season of Michael Jordan’s hiatus and the Pacers, who would prove to be as much of a nemesis as the Jordan Bulls.

By the time the teams played each other again in the playoffs it was 10 years later with the Nets as a top seed against the Knicks, who got in by winning 37 games, prompting then team president Isiah Thomas to say, “Welcome to the Playoffs.”

Since 2004, the Nets and Knicks have seldom been good at the same time. In 2013, they were separated by six games with the Knicks winning the division and the Nets getting the fourth seed, It took eight more seasons for the teams to finish over .500 at the same time again when the Knicks stunningly made a late run for the fourth seed and the Nets finished second.

It is unknown if the rivalries in two different sports unfold in a playoff series next spring. First, the teams actually have to get there and in the early going the four teams might be providing some early clues about where their respective seasons may be headed.

Starting with hockey after two wins over the Rangers, the Islanders are on impressive 7-1-0 run in their past eight games. It started with a matter of fact 3-0 win on Hempstead Turnpike right near the Queens county line on Oct. 26 – three days after the Astros eliminated the Yankees and officially shifting the weeknight focus of area sports fans to the winter sports and baseball trade rumors.

It also featured three wins of overcoming multi-goal deficits, including one over the defending champion Colorado Avalanche
AVAX
. The other two came in a span of 24 hours, first when the Islanders rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 4-3 win over Calgary and then Tuesday in an impressive third period where their scoring opportunities resulted in goals — a blast by Adam Pelech, another blast by Brock Nelson and a backhander by Anders Lee in front of the net.

“We’ll take that sometimes. Not all the time,” Lee said after noting how previous experience does not faze the Islanders when trailing by multiple goals.

The final goal came after Oliver Wahlstrom may have tripped Kakko Kappo, but not on the second Tuesday of November. Still the missing whistle was apparent to Rangers coach Gerard Gallant, who avoided a fine when he merely said: “You guys saw it?” in response to an inquiry about his reaction.

“We lost a tough hockey game, tough to swallow,” Gallant said. “We played well. We deserved the game tonight. The Islanders are the best team in the league in the third period.”

The non-call going against the Rangers was part of a rough patch for a team, whose season lasted through June 11 with a run to Game 6 of the conference finals, which usually get done around Memorial Day. The tough third period was a better showing than Sunday when the Rangers switched up their lines but still sent them to a seventh loss in 10 games (3-4-3) and it’s a stretch that has created some of the urgent comments you tend to hear when a team slides.

“I don’t think it’s lost on anybody, the start we’ve had,’’ Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. “Time is a-ticking. We don’t have all the time in the world. We’ve got to find a way to play a better game.’’

A night later the Knicks and Nets got together in Brooklyn. By about 10 pm, both sported five wins with different paths on how they got there.

In their third season under Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks are a typical hovering around .500 team, winning games they are supposed to, losing to teams you would expect and occasionally beating a good team missing a key contributor.

As for the Nets, their path to reaching 5-7 with their impressive 112-85 win on Wednesday is well unique to say the least.

They entered the fourth season of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving after both their stars appeared to be seeking an exit and Durant went so far to request Steve Nash and Sean Marks be replaced before eventually dropping his desire.

Then they began with five losses in six games, got a win in their seventh game and then parted ways with Steve Nash on Nov. 1 and four days after Kyrie Irving posted a link to an antisemitic movie then grew defensive in an embarrassing press conference on Oct. 29 after lack of effort resulted in the Nets allowing 23 3-pointers.

Nash’s replacement was Jacque Vaughn and for a week it seemed like he was a placeholder, similar to the 14 games spread out over five-plus months in 2020 after Kenny Atkinson got the parted ways treatment. It seemed he was a temporary because of the questionable reported pursuit of Ime Udoka, who would be coaching the Celtics if not for his allegations of inappropriate conduct.

By Wednesday afternoon, the Nets decided to remove the interim tag after seeing the defense allow 96 points in their first four games under him. Considering the move came a day after election day, it prompted a quip from Vaughn.

“I guess I was the write-in candidate in the minds of elections right now, but I’m ok with that. I said to my wife, I might not have been her first choice and we’ve been together 20 years, so it can all work out. So, off we go.”

A few hours after his wisecrack, he was beaming as the Nets did things like hand out 30 assists, get 55 rebounds and lead by double-digits for 42-plus minutes.

It left the Knicks lamenting a night when they constantly hoisted bad looking 3-pointers (12 for 43), made defense seem optional and lost their eighth straight to the Nets, whose effort continued to increase.

“It’s not OK,” Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said.

Just like it wasn’t an OK result for the other MSG tenant a night earlier against the team who has owned them of late on the ice.