Nets mauled by Grizz, fans
A Knicks fan who chanted ‘Sell the Team’ with his friends Wednesday said he was “interrogated” by security for 15 minutes before leaving Madison Garden following the Knicks’ loss to the Jazz.
The fan, who wanted to be called “John from Long Island,” posted a video on Twitter of him and at least three friends being surrounded by six security guards and one police officer near the MSG elevator.
John said a security guard threatened them with arrest but they are allowed back at the Garden. Moments earlier — as the Knicks were in the final minutes of their 112-104 defeat — the group started chanting, “Sell the Team,” and it was briefly picked up by other fans. They were leaving when they began to yell — a smart tactic since that’s an automatic ejection at MSG — and a security guard quickly approached them to make sure they left.
John then posted a picture outside the Garden with four friends and the caption, “Escorted out of Spike’s entrance.” It was a reference to the employee entrance Spike Lee was banned from using.
An MSG spokesman said the fans were neither ejected nor escorted from the arena. Earlier this season, owner James Dolan appeared to order security to eject a teenage fan as the entire arena erupted in a “Sell the Team” chant.
And on Tuesday, Knicks superfan Spike Lee said he was boycotting the remainder of the season because of his treatment at MSG.
“I’m being harassed by James Dolan,” Lee said on ESPN’s First Take.
Superman did not walk through that door.
Nor did Batman, Spiderman, Darkwing Duck or Luke Cage.
The Nets needed a superhero to drag them back from down 30 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. No such hero emerged. Brooklyn lost, 118-79.
And the Barclays Center crowd let the Nets have it, booing them off the court after a poor performance in a winnable game.
Wednesday was the second game of a back-toback, one day after LeVert put on his cape and hung 51 points on the Celtics in Boston to pull the Nets back from down 21.
The Nets couldn’t have expected him to put on an encore, and the way they played (14 points, 6-19 shooting), it would have taken a 51point night from someone on the roster.
Spencer Dinwiddie was not up for the challenge: He scored four points on 1-of-9 shooting without making any of his seven attempts from three and was a team-worst minus-22 in 27 minutes.
The Nets are an eighth seed that just got destroyed by another eighth seed, and the disparity between the two teams couldn’t be more apparent.
The Grizzlies were also short several key players. Rookie of the Year runnerup Jaren Jackson Jr. sat out with left knee soreness. That’s a 40% threepoint shooter and post-up threat averaging 17 points per game that wasn’t on the floor. The Grizzlies were also short rookie
Brandon Clarke and playmaker Justise Winslow.
The Grizzlies pounded the Nets on the glass, 5541, made 20 threes and enjoyed five players scoring in double figures with another two scoring nine. By the end of the game, Memphis reserves were toying with their opponent, like a Harlem Globetrotters performance — or a video game matchup against a lesser opponent.
Only three Nets players made a threepointer: Joe Harris, Taurean Prince and Chris Chiozza, the second-year guard who followed one impressive game in Boston with another against the Grizzlies.
Chiozza was not the superhero the Nets needed. Batman and Robin are out until next season.
If the Nets are going to win games and hold onto their standing as a playoff team, they’ll have to be perfect for the rest of the season. Shooting 7-of-42 from three-point range is far from perfect..
For a team without its two most potent offensive weapons, shooting poorly from downtown is harakiri.
Ja Morant finished with just 15 points on 15 shots. Memphis’ heroes were in the paint: Jonas Valanciunas and Gorgui Dieng combined for 30 rebounds alone.
After a feel-good win over Boston, the Nets are back to square one, now losers in six of their last eight games.
Who will step up and keep this team in the playoff hunt?