Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day, everybody. 

Wait, is that right? Can you have a Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day, or is that crass? I’m not selling mattresses here. Do I have to go with Solemn Martin Luther King Jr Day? Is it all too soon?

This is going horribly. 

Hey everybody, the Nets played the Sacramento Kings on ML King Day, because synergy is real in Brooklyn. And, well…they killed them. Hm.

Look, you can talk about how terrible this beginning is, but something bothers me with the Nike branded I Have A Dream warm up shirts that the players wore, in that all of the sentiment goes out the window as soon as that damn swoosh shows up on the shirt. Christ, couldn’t you at least put it on the back. Think of it as an end credit. But no, no. There you are, next to the NBA logo, because it’s not good enough to give a civil rights leader, and what I’m told was an actual human being, his due if you don’t get the credit for doing so. Is it nitpicking? Maybe. But is it also the thing that’s going to lead to 9/11 Day sales at used car lots in 10 years, where the ads tell you to come on down to ground zero for savings? It sure as goddamn hell is. Credit to my friend Jon for coming up with the idea of a 9/11 Day some seven or eight years ago.

Anyway, it was Martin Luther King Jr Day, which may very well mean so very much to my bank, but sadly nothing to my office, so I was set to go into work. However it was also 7 degrees with a real feel hovering at about -10 [This is not a cold weather dick measuring contest, Canadian readers], and the Nets played a 3:30 game, so I did not go into work. I’ll go tomorrow when it’s extremely cold, and not psychotically cold. As mentioned above the Nets hosted the Kings, who I am told are essentially the west coast Nets. A fairly deep team that plays unselfish ball. Naturally, I relished the fact that they’re coming from the west coast to play an early game, however those damn Kings managed to annoyingly look very similar to my streaking Nets, and took a halftime lead.

Then it was over. The Nets kicked their asses in the third, and told them to go home throughout the fourth more rudely than a southern diner sticking it to a touring jazz band. The Kings scored 9 points in the fourth quarter. In this day and age scoring 9 points in the NBA is like…well it’s bad. My metaphors aren’t exactly on point. You’re football people so think Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl type stuff. Christ it was nine points. Extrapolate that for a game and you get like…60 points or something. 

What did Spencer Dinwiddie draw on his shoes?

It’s Martin Luthe- Wait, what the fuck? Reggie Bush?

…

Oh that’s right. We already did Martin Luther King Jr.

Alright. Reggie Bush. I guess we’ll go with the fifth or sixth most prolific guy to stick his dick in Kardashian. It’s been a rough week for the Saints. Of course he’s decked out in USC colors, but they’ll take what they can get.

Also, I was crass up there and probably stepped over a line or two, but seriously, it’s Martin Luther King Jr Day. I guess don’t be an asshole to people who look differently than you. I like to think I make a point to do that every day, but I suppose it’s beneficial to at least reflect a little bit and understand that as a straight white man in my late thirties and juuuuuust beyond the struggles that Millennials have to face, I am living life in easy mode. Sure, I don’t own a house, and have little savings, but I once got caught smoking pot in front of a cop and nothing happened to my privileged ass. If I was a black guy? Things probably don’t go the exact same way. So I’m privileged. I don’t know exactly what to do with that, other than to occasionally show a little goddamn humility, and listen when somebody who isn’t as privileged needs to express the problems that are going on in their life, and I guess vote as liberal as humanly possible. I don’t know. I understand that being a white person in America means you never get to say with any kind of definitive authority that you are not a racist person, because your entire way of life is in some way formed by a society that is still deeply racist at it’s core, and that the comfort you live in is largely insulated by that bigotry. Much like that pink fiberglass in your house, you can’t see it- well, you’re not supposed to see it anyway- but it’s there all the same, keeping you nice and warm, while other people are freezing their asses off outside. I’m not trying to be the most socially conscious person in the world, and I’m not trying to get an invite to the cookout, but I would like to live a life that my grandchildren won’t be completely ashamed of 50 years from now. So _______ belated Martin Luther King Jr Day, everybody.

At least I didn’t try to make a buck off of it.

Can I level with you guys? I didn’t watch this game. I know, I know. This is the shittiest Nets recap blog in the business. We’re barely halfway into the season and I’ve already missed three games. Time for the self-flagellation.

The truth is my friend called me up and had Knicks tickets. And this particular friend tends to come up with good tickets to things every now and then, so I figured what the hell. Might as well go to the Mecca and take in the sights. And sure, the Knicks are a tanking abomination, but maybe they’re playing a team that’s cool and fun and

Oh.

You guys again.

This sounds like a humble brag. The tickets were free, the seats were good, and I did get to watch the reigning MVP go for 61 points in a packed Madison Square Garden. Hell, the trash ass Knicks inexplicably kept it close. Damn it, Ian, don’t be that guy. Don’t be that guy. Stop being an asshole. Enjoy the damn game.

It’s just that I’ve spent the past three months watching beautiful if flawed team basketball flowing out of the Barclays Center. Meanwhile Houston is all but a dictatorship. Look at that unselfish play calling.

Really spreading that wealth, guys. That’s unfair, but only partially. I’ll admit that there are more than a few bench guys on the court, but Harden the point remains that watching Harden work up close isn’t like seeing LeBron or Curry at the height of their powers. He doesn’t fill you with giddiness, making you feel as though you’re witnessing an absurdity of the game. Instead it just feels like one of those gimmicky high school basketball teams where the coach runs everything through his one star and tries to see if he can score 100 points.

Meanwhile the Garden remains…well, pretty damn great. I’m not going to lie, the Barclays Center doesn’t match up. And even more annoying, it’s something you really have to sit in the lower section to appreciate. If you can swing $300 or so on a night when the MVP is in town, you’ll really get to see it. The court is so small, while the seats stretch out forever. It is here where I realized that the Knicks fans are just members in a low stakes cult. While there were more than a fair share of Rockets fans, there were an inexplicable amount of New Yorkers who had paid good money for lower level seats and Tim Hardaway Jr jerseys. People who had the strength to yell for a 10-35 (Spoiler alert: they’re now 10-37) team in the midst of what has to be a tank job. Yes, it feels like a bigger deal, because this team, which has engendered some rabid devotion purely based on their location in spite of decades of futility, continues to put out just enough of a product: warm bodies wearing New York branded jerseys. And the grand delusion on everybody’s mind- apart from the shocking proposition of knocking off Houston- was the prospect of getting one of the Duke kids to see them through to some great era of prosperity that has not occurred since long before I walked this earth. As is the case with most cults, their believers believe in spite of all evidence that the front office will manage to stop fucking that chicken for long enough to warrant a parade through the canyon of heroes. My uncle, who happened to be at the game told me with a straight face that they were building something. I suppose that’s correct, on some level. They are in fact building something.

Of course there were Rocket bros sitting in front of me. I made sure to constantly talk to my friend about that Nets game last week, until I heard them groan to one another “That game was ridiculous.” It sure was, you bad-basketball stans. One of them had an Olajuwon jersey, despite the fact that he was probably 27 years old and couldn’t have remembered the era without the aide of ESPN Classic. The other wore a Gerald Green jersey. Jesus. Can you even imagine watching the Rockets and rooting for somebody other than Harden, CP3 or Capela? Must be fun watching your boy get his 3 shots a game. I get it. They’re both Harden fans who don’t want to look basic, but come on, Houston bros.

Also, this happened right in front of us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mGu8z75wvE

If I’m being honest, the full gravity of what just happened doesn’t sink in when you watch it live. In the moment it’s just an unfortunate turnover. When you see the replay? Jesus, Houston, are you shaving points?

Meanwhile, let’s check in on the Nets.

Those last two seconds took approximately 15 minutes. There I sat, in the expensive seats, as the underdog Knicks held onto a brief lead against the Houston Rockets, staring at my dumb phone to update and let me know that it was official, and that the Nets had won. It eventually did, but that took forever.

Anyway, the Rockets won, the Knicks lost, we had a pretty good time, and my buddy caught a cannon t-shirt that he can’t possibly fit into, with his crotch. He wondered if the girl sitting next to him would instinctively reach for his crotch. She didn’t.

Shine on, dirty old man.

What did Spencer Dinwiddie draw on his shoes?

Hood Chef! Delightful.

And then the worst happened. We find out that Spencer’s been playing with a painful thumb injury for the past few weeks. This would explain the sudden drop off in production (A drop off which included him almost single handedly putting the Rockets into the trash, but still). For a while the question was, would he have surgery or play through the pain for the time being. On Saturday night he opted for the surgery. The temptation is to go all Marine Todd and insist that he should have rubbed some dirt on it. The hell with that. Spencer is by all accounts, an absolutely insane worker. If he’s opting for the surgery that pain must have been excruciating. He’ll be out 3-6 weeks, and given the way the Nets front office proceeds with caution, it could very well take longer than that. That’s a long time to go without my spirit animal, but the man is injured. I’d feel better if Caris got healthy quickly, but I think that’s going to take a little while as well, as Kenny Atkinson would not commit to his being ready before next month’s All Star Game. The team has been great, but I do wonder just how long they can stay in the playoff mix while missing two of their three best players.

Oh well, let’s go to the final game of the week.

And…it’s the Knicks. I’m going to be honest with you, that’s too much Knicks basketball for my tastes. Two games in a week? Why don’t we move one of those games to next month. I have a headache. But if I’m going to be #TeamSilverLining here, at least it’s a perfectly fine opponent for Spencer Dinwiddie to sit against as they evaluate the condition of his hand.

Annoyingly the Knicks took an early lead. Some of this was brought on by their unsustainable shooting in the first quarter, but another was the clear result of Brooklyn attending the Nathan Peterman Passing Academy, leading to so many turnovers and an early deficit. D’Angelo Russell got into foul trouble early and sat, but it’s still the Knicks, so it’s best not to panic too much.

The game featured three bright spots.

-The Emergence of Theo Pinson, who in his third game with the team came off the bench for 19 points and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes. Very nice game, Theo. If you can go 3-5 from deep in every game, you should have a long and productive career.

-A career game from Ed Davis. Is this his best game? It’s his best game as a Net, I can tell you that much. In fairness, I don’t watch a ton of Trailblazer games, so I have to plead ignorance. Ed pulled down 17 points and 16 rebounds in 28 minutes, and that doesn’t really do justice to his game. He was a monster, and I don’t care at all that it came against the Knicks. The Knicks are still an NBA squad. This totally counts. Everything that I’ve heard from teammates is that Ed Davis is the absolute best guy. And his advanced stats are really good for a center coming off the bench. I keep this in mind whenever he commits a dumb foul and makes his confused face. I can’t stress enough, that I really like all of these Nets and I’m not out to crap on anybody. I want nothing but good things for Ed Davis. That said, I cannot shake the feeling that he’s going to do something really stupid in a pivotal playoff game, like getting called for a blatant goal tend at the buzzer.

-Finally there was Mitch Creek, who was just signed to a 10 day contract. The 26 year old Creek has been a professional in Australia for the past eight years, and finally came over to try to live his dream in the NBA. He’d bounced around the G-League, before Kenneth Faried was bought out, and the Nets were left with a roster spot to fill. Here is Trajan Langdon giving him the call.

Did he get to play? Yup. He was called in to take two foul shots, before being shuffled back to the bench. He bricked the first attempt, but then

You have an NBA statistic, buddy. Congratulations, 55.

What did Spencer Dinwiddie draw on his shoes?

Nothing. God damn that fucking thumb. I’ll let you know if he draws something on his cast.

The Brooklyn Nets are 27-23 and in 6th place in the Eastern Conference.