Knicks-Nets rescheduled for Nov. 26 after Hurricane Sandy

The game originally scheduled for Thursday night at the Barclays center between the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks has been rescheduled for Nov. 26 at the same venue, the NBA announced Thursday. The New York area is still battling the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy, and the current conditions would have made it tough for the city’s two teams and their fans to participate in what was supposed to be the season opener for both squads

The rescheduled game will still be televised on TNT. Some of the excitement around the contest will now dissipate, as it is no longer the Nets’ debut in Brooklyn. The next scheduled home game for the Nets comes on Saturday against the Toronto Raptors.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg called the NBA league offices and asked them to postpone the game between the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets on Thursday at the newly constructed Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“I’m sorry about the game,” said Bloomberg in his address to the city on Wednesday. “I was personally going to take my daughters. It’s a great stadium and it was going to be a great game.”

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to officially confirm the news shortly.

Previous reports suggested that the game would take place, but it appears there has been a change of plans. The New York subway remains shut down in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, making it difficult for fans to attend.

Residents and businesses across New York City began undertaking massive cleanup efforts a day after the storm ravaged through the city, shutting down Wall Street and severely damaging the subway system in the process.

The NBA is looking into whether games will be able to be played this week after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Northeast.

New York had a lot of buzz surrounding the beginning of the new rivalry between the longtime hometown team the Knicks and the newly relocated Nets in Brooklyn. However, New York has bigger issues to worry about: millions are without power, and water has flooded many streets. It seems unlikely the highly anticipated game will be able to go off without a hitch as the city focuses on getting back on its feet. The Nets have boasted about the easy accessibility of their new stadium, the Barclays Center, via subway, but it’s unclear how soon the subway system will be reopened with many tunnels flooded.

There has been no official word regarding either the Thursday night matchup between the squads or Friday night’s home opener for the Knicks against Miami, but Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes that there is a “distinct possibility” that the storm will cause some sort of problem with the plan to start the season Thursday.

Unfortunately for the Knicks, Hurricane Sandy is getting in the way, according to the New York Post. New York had to cancel its scheduled Monday practice due to the impending storm that threatens the safety of anyone on the East Coast.

The practice was scheduled for 11 a.m. in Tarrytown, N.Y., but it would have been a dangerous commute for many of the players who don’t live in the immediate area.

The storm is expected to bring heavy wind and rains to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions Monday and Tuesday, which would have made the team’s typical day-before travel routine impossible. Instead of practicing in Washington Monday morning and traveling to Cleveland later Monday afternoon as the team had planned to do, the Wizards made an early getaway, leaving D.C. for Cleveland at 8 a.m. Monday. From the Washington Post:

The game between Washington and Cleveland is the first of the NBA season, although it takes a backseat to some of Tuesday night’s more marquee matchups that will be nationally televised. Sandy likely won’t cause any cancellations in the NBA, as the only game in the region Tuesday or Wednesday -- Detroit vs. Philadelphia on Wednesday night -- should be able to go off without a hitch.

Hurricane Sandy could create some problems for the NBA early next week. The storm is currently projected to make landfall around New York or New Jersey on Tuesday, and it could end up affecting several games in the region as it works its way inland.

Sandy is currently a Category 1 hurricane, with wind gusts up to 95 miles per hour. The storm is off the coast of Florida and working its way north.