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The Brooklyn Nets are not known for having one of the better home-court advantages in the NBA. When the team moved to Brooklyn, it hoped to cut into the fanbase of the struggling Knicks and stake a claim of New York City.
Ten years later, the Knicks still reign supreme in New York. However, the NBA is a league of stars, and the acquisitions of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving increased interest in the Nets and grew the fanbase. Brooklyn ranked 13th in the NBA in attendance last season, averaging 17,354 fans per game, the most since their move to the borough. This was evident in a raucous home crowd at Brooklyn's 109-105 win over the Toronto Raptors Friday night, and Durant fired back at those who talk down on the Nets fanbase postgame.
“We get a bad rap for our fans, saying we don't got a lot, saying they don't come to support us,” Durant said. “But I feel like every game I played since I've been here has been loud and they've been cheering for the Nets.”
“It's also New York City,” he continued. “So there's other teams and other fanbases here as well, but we always hear Nets loud and clear and we're going to need that going forward.”
Brooklyn sold out both of its home games to open the season. Despite an embarrassing loss to the New Orleans Pelicans to open the season, the Nets crowd was in full force Friday as Brooklyn overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to claim their first win. The arena exploded on a Patty Mills corner three off a beautiful offensive set as the Nets were mounting their comeback.
beautiful beautiful ball movement pic.twitter.com/uavPqoG0IT
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) October 22, 2022
Kyrie Irving carried Brooklyn across the finish line with 13 fourth-quarter points (30 points total) in the victory. The seven-time All-Star has been critical of his team in recent weeks, saying they need to be tougher and play with more energy. When asked what it took for Brooklyn to come out with the win Friday, Irving credited the home crowd for holding his team to a high standard.
“It took not being soft, honestly,” Irving said. “We’ve been coming out too soft sometimes, and basketball is meant to be played at a high level of intensity. And our fans will let us know it if we’re not playing hard enough, so I appreciate that. It just makes us want to go harder.”
NETS WIN‼️ @Meghan_Triplett speaks with Kyrie Irving and collects his thoughts after the first W of the season. #NETSonYES pic.twitter.com/IDcBRb2GKZ
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 22, 2022
Friday's game was a back-and-forth affair. Both teams went on extended runs that shifted the momentum. Toronto went on a 20-2 run in the third quarter to go up 10 after Brooklyn had opened up an eight-point lead. When the Nets went up 12 with 5:38 remaining, the Raptors responded with a 12-0 run to tie the game in the final two minutes.
Brooklyn would respond again and put the game away with a pair of threes from Durant and Royce O'Neale. Head Coach Steve Nash was highly complementary of the home crowd postgame when speaking about his team's resiliency.
“I thought our crowd was incredible tonight,” Nash said. “The crowd was really behind the guys. The (Brooklyn) Block was great out there and when our crowd gives us that energy when we’re tired, I think it’s really important and gave us a real homecourt tonight and we’re grateful.”
The Nets are back in action on Monday with a tough matchup against Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies on the road.
