(SportsNetwork.com) - The battle for New York basketball pride has lost some luster recently, but that won't stop the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets from jumping it up Friday night at the Barclays Center.
The teams are a combined 37 games under .500, although the Nets are just a half-game out of the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Nets have been playing decent basketball of late with back-to-back wins. Brooklyn defeated the Los Angeles Clippers at home on Monday to halt a seven- game home losing streak.
They continued the fine form on Wednesday with a great road win, a 109-93 drubbing of the Atlantic Division leaders, the Toronto Raptors. Brooklyn avenged a 127-122 home overtime loss to the Raptors last Friday.
Jarrett Jack scored 24 points and Alan Anderson added 22 to lead the Nets at Air Canada Centre.
Joe Johnson contributed 12 points and seven assists to the triumph, while Bojan Bogdanovic hit a trio of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and ended with 11 points.
"It's very humbling to see your team to start to get it," Nets head coach Lionel Hollins said afterward. "You fight them, you're yelling, you're coaxing them, you're hugging them and you are doing all kinds of stuff and all of a sudden a light comes on and they start playing for each other, and believing in each other. It showed in the way we (have) played for the last couple of weeks."
After Friday's game with the Knicks, Brooklyn will play eight straight on the road, including a trip west.
The Knicks have lost two of their last three and two in a row on the road.
On Tuesday, the Knicks fell to the Boston Celtics, 108-97, at Madison Square Garden. New York had its four-game home winning streak halted and its three- game winning streak over the Celtics stopped.
Carmelo Anthony contributed 21 points, while Jose Calderon and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 17 and 14 points, respectively, in the loss. Jason Smith chipped in 12 and Lance Thomas scored 11 off the bench.
The Celtics jumped on the Knicks early, taking a 26-19 lead after one quarter. Boston's cushion was 13 at the half, and, despite a solid third quarter, the Knicks couldn't close the gap.
"We didn't start the game with a purpose, (with) energy. And the Celtics did," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said.
The Knicks allowed the C's to shoot 54.5 percent from the floor.
The Nets have taken both meetings this season, one in MSG and one at the Barclays Center. The Knicks are 3-2 in Brooklyn since the team moved there before the 2012-13 season.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.