Starting one day later than they anticipated against the defending NBA Champions, Jason Kidd and the New York Knicks put on a show worthy of the setting on Friday night.


Jason Kidd drives past Dwyane Wade during New York’s 20-point win over Miami (Getty Images).

With the city of New York still reeling in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the Knicks saw their original opener on Thursday night in Brooklyn postponed. Instead they started at home against the Miami Heat and gave fans something to take their mind off the wreckage, if only for a few hours with a 104-84 victory.

"The Garden was rocking, especially in the aftermath of the hurricane," Jason said. "We fed off of that."

J-Kidd was stellar in his Knicks debut. Though he played just 23 minutes, he scored 12 points and contributed four rebounds, three assists and two steals, an all around great effort that made Knicks Coach Mike Woodson glad to have No. 5 on his side.

"I’m just glad he’s in a Knick uniform," Woodson said. "I’ve been tired of coaching against that guy for years. He’s just an ultimate pro. He knows how to play and he makes a lot of people better. A lot of guys are going to benefit from Jason Kidd, I promise you that."

The Knicks went small to start against Miami and gave Jason the start at shooting guard, but he was every bit the facilitator he would’ve been at the point. He dished out two assists in the opening quarter, including one that set up a buzzer beating trey by Carmelo Anthony to end the first. After one, Anthony had 16 points and the Knicks led 33-17.

They pushed that lead in the second quarter as Jason found his shooting stroke. His trey two minutes into the second made it 38-22 and he added another 90 seconds later to make it 41-24 Knicks. Moments after that second triple, Jason lobbed a beautiful ball for Tyson Chandler, who threw it down for an alley-oop two, putting New York back in front by 16.

Thanks to a late second quarter surge by Miami at halftime, the Knicks led by just 11. But the Knicks opened it back up in the third, guided by solid team defense and unselfish play on the offensive end. Of the eight baskets New York made in the third, seven came off an assist. Raymond Felton led the charge with four assists in the third and one of those set up No. 5 for a three.

"When you look at the make up of this team, you have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket and make plays," Jason said. "So it’s been kind of contagious during training camp just to make the extra pass and get some wide open shots."

New York led by as much as 23 in the third and closed the quarter with an 18-point lead. It was down to 13 when Jason went to the scorers table to check back in with under seven minutes to go in the game. His presence clearly calmed the Knicks down. 


J-Kidd goes in for the layup off a fastbreak (Getty Images).

Shortly after returning, he grabbed a rebound an offensive rebound and drew a three-shot foul. He sank all three to push the lead back to 19 and Steve Novak followed with back-to-back treys to put the game away.

Afterward, Novak commented on how Jason’s veteran presence and leadership also helped to lead the Knicks to victory.

"

[He’s] more valuable than I think [people realize]," Novak said "People are going to continue to see."

As valuable as Jason was to the Knicks on offense, he believed the real statement was made on defense, where New York held a Miami team that routinely scores 100 to just 84 on 46.5 percent from the field.

"The one thing we did tell about ourselves is that we can play defense. That’s something we have to hold each other accountable for. If you want to win in this league, you have to play defense," Jason said. "The challenge was to take on the best team in the league, probably the best player in the league in LeBron. It was a team effort. We’re going to win and lose as a team and I thought you saw that."

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, New York’s margin of victory on Friday is the fourth highest in NBA history by a team in their season opener against the defending champs. But Jason said the game was not a message by the Knicks to the NBA and cautioned that the team shouldn’t get too caught up in a single game performance.

"This is a long journey and one game doesn’t define your team," J-Kidd said. "You just have to build on what we did [against Miami] against a very talented team in Philly."

NEXT UP
The Knicks return to the Garden floor on Sunday afternoon to take on the Philadelphia 76ers in a rare noontime start.

Given all that’s gone on in New York over the last several days, the early start and how it affects the team bears watching. But Jason doesn’t believe it can be used as an excuse.

"No matter what time we play, we have to find that energy," he said. "Maybe the best thing is the clocks are set back, so it’s kind of like a 1 o’clock start."

Tip-off between the Knicks and Sixers is indeed set for Noon on Sunday and the game can be seen on MSG.

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