The Nets and Knicks finally took their fight for city supremacy to the court in Brooklyn last night.
Give the first round to the Nets.
Thanks to a virtuoso performance from Deron Williams, the Nets came away from their first regular-season game in Brooklyn against the Knicks with a thrilling 96-89 overtime victory in front of a divided — but definitively pro-Nets — sellout crowd of 17,732 at Barclays Center.
"We gave the fans a show," Williams said after putting together a spectacular game, finishing with 16 points, 14 assists, six rebounds and three steals.
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BLOCK PARTY: Brook Lopez, who had five blocks to go with his team-high 22 points, rejects a shot by J.R. Smith during the Nets' overtime victory.
It was a game that truly lived up to the hype that had been heaped upon it for the past several months, ever since the matchup — which had originally been scheduled as the season opener for both teams before being postponed because of Hurricane Sandy — was placed on the schedule this summer.
"I thought this was a big game in general for us," Williams said. "The Knicks are a great team this year, they have a great record and it's hard to deny the atmosphere and media buzz around this game. So, I mean, it was definitely an exciting game for us, we were up to the task and I'm glad we were able to come out of it with a victory."
The Knicks were without Jason Kidd — the point guard who had helped build the rivalry when he was on the other side of it in the last decade missed the game with back spasms — but nearly had enough in Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler. Anthony scored a game-high 35 points and Chandler added a career-high 28 on 12-of-13 shooting to go with 10 rebounds, and both were impressed by the excitement in the building.
"It was a great atmosphere,'' Chandler said. "Both teams wanted it. Both teams had something at stake. It was a good game. We didn't pull this one out and it was a disappointing loss.''
Right from the opening tip, the game had the feel of a playoff game in May or June as opposed to a regular-season one in late November. Not only was the intensity high on the court, but it was high in the stands, as the Nets had a legitimate advantage in fan support for a home game — something they rarely, if ever, did while playing in New Jersey.
The split was about 60-40, but the Nets fans made their presence felt throughout the game, and particularly as the final seconds ticked off the clock in overtime and the victory was in hand.
"Every time some sort of Knick contingency started to cheer, our fans got louder," Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "This is what we have been dreaming about since I have been here.
"It is a nice feeling and I am glad we rewarded our fans with a victory — they deserved it."
It looked like the Nets were on their way to a victory in regulation when they took a 81-76 lead with 4:01 remaining after a 3-pointer from Jerry Stackhouse was followed up by a fast-break dunk from Brook Lopez off a pass from Williams.
But after Lopez secured a defensive rebound after a miss by Raymond Felton, he brought the ball down low enough for Felton — who endured a miserable night, scoring five points on 3-of-19 shooting and had five assists and five turnovers — to poke it away and into the hands of Chandler.
Chandler then kicked the ball out to a wide-open Carmelo Anthony, who knocked down the 3-pointer to pull the Knicks to within two. That sparked an 8-0 run for the Knicks, capped by a Chandler put-back dunk with 1:38 remaining to give the Knicks a 84-81 lead with 1:38 remaining.
"We thought we had the game in hand in regulation," Johnson said, "and then it disappears."
But after Lopez's miscue allowed the Knicks back into the game, it was the big center, who finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks, who pushed the game to overtime. Lopez scored the final three points of regulation, finishing a layup over Chandler with 1:27 left and then drawing a foul with 24.1 seconds remaining and hitting one of the two free throws.
That set the stage for Anthony, who finished with 35 points and 13 rebounds, to be the hero, but his 16-footer from the right side went just long.
"That's the look I wanted," Anthony said. "I'll take that shot all day. Perfect look at it. I missed it. But that's the look I wanted."
A last-second heave from Williams missed to the right, sending the game to overtime.
Chandler scored the first points of the extra session on a dunk, but the Nets scored the next eight , capped by a Gerald Wallace layup with 2:22 remaining that gave the Nets a 92-86 lead.
"I'm just glad we got the win," Joe Johnson said. "This is what the fans live for … everybody wanted to see this game, Nets versus Knicks.
"With so much hype around it, we just came out and showed we were the better team tonight."
tbontemps@nypost.com
