It's not the Battle of Brooklyn, but pre-season finale offers first for Nets, Knicks

For the first time since February 22, 1977, two teams from New York will step on the court to play each other and for the first time ever, one of those teams will be repping "Brooklyn," not "New York." It's not the Battle of Brooklyn yet, but Wednesday's lone preseason game between the two teams is getting fans from both sides excited and making both coaches a little mysterious.

The game will be played at Nassau Coliseum, where the 1977 game was played. How long ago was that? The Coliseum was a state-of-the-art venue and the Knicks won, 100-80 with Bob McAdoo and Walt Frazier leading the way.

On the surface, the two teams are downplaying both the game and the rivalry. "Nah, it’s just another game," Deron Williams said. "This rivalry with them is getting blown up by the media, but internally, we haven’t talked about it. We haven't said anything about it. We are looking forward to playing these guys. We are looking forward to forming a rivalry. But it’s not there yet."

That's nice, but if it means nothing, how come both coaches are keeping their lineup plans secret. Mike Woodson told Knick writers that Carmelo Anthony would start at either small forward or power forward ... depending on what Nets do, He wants to see who the Nets start at PF before deciding where to put Anthony. Avery Johnson, on the other hand, told Nets writers he has a plan on how many minutes he'll give his starters ... but wouldn't divulge it.

Amare Stoudemire, Rasheed Wallace, J.R. Smith and Marcus Camby are out for the Knicks. Keith Bogans is out for the Nets. The game will be broadcast locally on MSG, starting at 7:30 p.m.

• Nets prepping for first date with 'rival' Knicks - Rod Boone - Newsday
• Nets get first look at cross-river rivals - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
• Charles Barkley plugs Nets, rips Knicks - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
• Deron: Nets-Knicks not rivals yet, 'just another game' - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
  
• Knicks' players and the team as a whole not impressing GMs in preseason polls - Alex Raskin - Star-Ledger
  
• Rasheed Wallace Could Practice For First Time on Friday; Brewer Getting Back Into the Swing - Adam Zagoria - Zags Blog
• Monday Practice Report: Stack is Back, Keeping the Intensity Up, Bogans and Watson Sit - Josh Newman - SNY