Who runs the Big Apple?
The answer to that question won't be found in the season series between New York's two resident hoops teams.
Nearly two and a half months and 40-some-odd games into the 2012-13 NBA season, the season series for the Battle of New York has concluded with a two-game tie between the New York Knicks (25-14) and newcomers the Brooklyn Nets (25-16).
The series ended Monday with the Nets taking an 88-85 win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden Monday in another closely-fought contest after Nets star Joe Johnson hit the game-winning jumper with 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter and four Nets were in double-digit scoring figures.
And yet, the war between the two franchises didn't stop there.
Afterwards, Nets forward Kris Humphries, who notched 11 points and 13 rebounds off the bench, tweeted about how quiet the Garden was after the Nets won.
J.R. Smith, who scored 16 points, but missed a crucial shot with seconds remaining in the game, replied by dissing Humphries on Twitter, heckling the Nets player about his soon-to-be ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and her boyfriend, rapper Kanye West.
Needless to say, this is one battle that will have bad blood all over it.
For years, New York was a Knicks town.
Through the high points--the 1990s era dominated by Patrick Ewing and Knicks teams that were perennial playoff contenders that went to the NBA Finals twice in that decade--and the low points (the years of struggles, bloated contracts to mediocre players and losing seasons under GMs Scott Layden and Isaiah Thomas), the Knicks were the only game in town.
Now, that is no longer the case, with the Nets having relocated from New Jersey at the end of last season and having rebuilt the franchise under the auspices of flamboyant Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.
Two teams, one city. Something's got to give.
"You've got two teams in New York. They want to be the top dogs. We want to be the top dogs. It's a battle. We split. We'll see what happens next," Johnson said.
After struggling through December where they were mired in losing slumps, the Nets parted ways with coach Avery Johnson, and the team looked like they were in disarray after such a hot start and high expectations. However, since then, the Nets have been on a tear, having won nine of the last 10 games and pulling to within a game behind the Knicks for the lead in the Atlantic Division.
Meanwhile, the Knicks, who have been solid for much of the season, have been off-key since star point guard Raymond Felton was injured against the Lakers last month, struggling on defense and having lost six of their last 10 games, though they still have the second-best record in the East behind the Miami Heat.
In addition, the Knicks just got back two key players this month, star power forward Amar'e Stoudemire and defensive stopper Iman Shumpert, the latter returning last week from an ACL injury he sustained in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs against the Heat.
But the Nets are starting to show that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with in the East, having regained their confidence under new coach P.J. Carlesimo.
They may not have a dominating scorer like the Knicks' Carmelo Anthony, but they outrebounded the Knicks 52-37 on the glass and defensively, they are among the top five best teams in the league, limiting opponents to only 94.4 points per game, fifth-lowest of the 30 NBA teams. They have a young and dynamic core of Deron Williams, Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez guiding the team.
And with recent wins against heavy hitters such as Oklahoma City, Indiana and Atlanta, the Nets are showing that they can hang with the best of them.
At the rate these two teams are going, the playoffs seem inevitable. But will that mean that a playoff meeting between the two, perhaps in the semi-final round?
Anthony, who grew up in the heart of Brooklyn idolizing Knicks great Bernard King, welcomes the challenge.
"It's the beginning of something that's going to be here for a long time," Knicks All-Star Carmelo Anthony told the New York Post. "We look forward to the challenge and look forward to playing them four times every year."