He was glancing through the Nets’ postseason media guide yesterday and was amazed to see just how few of the players are still in the league from the last time the Knicks and Nets tangled in the playoffs.
That was back in 1994, when Hubert Davis was in his second year in the NBA and actually a starter for the Knicks, logging more time many nights than John Starks.
“I was just looking at that. I just saw it, looking at the guys on the roster of both teams. I don’t think anybody’s left, except me,” Davis said. “Kenny Anderson, Derrick Coleman and me and that’s it.”
Yesterday’s first-round encounter between the area’s two teams ended a 10-year cycle. The teams have come full circle. For this go-round, the Nets are the Eastern Conference heavyweight while the Knicks are hoping to make some playoff noise. Back in ’94, the Knicks were looking at the upstart Nets as nothing more than a stepping stone on the way to bigger and more difficult playoff challenges.
Form held, as the Knicks beat the Nets in four games, none of which was a blowout.
“It was a great series; whoever scored the crowd cheered,” Davis said. “It was like a college atmosphere, a lot of fun. We were favored but they had beat us four straight times that year. Everybody was really excited about us going to the NBA Finals, winning the championship so there was a lot at stake. It was the best playoff series I’ve been a part of. It was amazing.”
Davis is not on the Nets’ playoff roster, meaning his contributions will be in providing perspective rather than points. Thus far, none of his teammates has asked him about what Nets-Knicks in the playoffs is all about.
“I’m so much older than these guys, they probably don’t even know the history of it,” said Davis, who turns 34 next month. “There’s nothing like it. With the New York thing, everything was a battle, who was a better team, who gets more attention. Both teams were just really talented.”
As the Nets will learn – if they don’t already know it – facing the Knicks in the playoffs is great in terms of travel, but quite disconcerting when it comes to relying on a devout home-court advantage.
The Knicks back in ’94 won the first two games at the Garden and then visited the Meadowlands for Game 3.
“There were so many people cheering for us, it was really weird,” Davis said. “Every time they scored the whole place went crazy, every time we scored the whole place would go crazy. You really didn’t know who was cheering for who, but it was a lot of fun.”