Atlantic Yards

Nets ready for momentous playoff clash with Bulls — 8pm Saturday on ESPN

April 19, 2013 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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Our borough’s first major pro sports franchise since the Dodgers abandoned us in 1957 has its first playoff game on Saturday night (8 p.m., ESPN) on the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.

However, the luster that accompanies all the historic firsts the Nets achieved during the regular season will pale in comparison to the gloom that will likely accompany an abrupt playoff exit.

‘If you don’t win that gold ball (the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy), then [the season] wasn’t successful,” Johnson said. ”We’re going to take it one series at a time, one game at a time and just try to have fun with it.”

ESPN’s TV cameras may have trouble scanning the sellout crowd at Barclays Center on Saturday night as the Nets are imploring Brooklynites to show up in dark garb as part of the “Blackout in Brooklyn” promotion. This will be the first major pro sports postseason game in our fair borough since the Yankees shut out the Dodgers, 9-0, at Ebbets Field in Game 7 of the World Series on Oct. 10, 1956.

Nets star guard Deron Williams knows that this Bulls series will be a grinder. “It’s going to be a tough battle,” insisted Williams, whose brilliant play following the All-Star break spurred Brooklyn to home-court advantage through at least the opening round. “They beat us three times this season, so anything can happen in a seven-game series. I’m definitely excited about the fact that we’re all playing at our highest level right now. When we do that, we’re really tough to beat.”

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