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The Brooklyn Nets have rallied, winning nine of 11, to tie the New York Knicks on top of the Atlantic Division after the teams faced off for the first time Monday night.
Brooklyn has had a five-game win streak and a four-game win streak, interrupted only by a two-game skid in back-to-back games in California. Brook Lopez is looking great, averaging 18.5 points, while Deron Williams is nearly averaging a double-double with 16.1 and 8.8 assists. The Knicks, on the other hand, are only playing .500 basketball since starting the year 6-0. Now Jason Kidd, who provided a distributing presence while comfortably knocking down open looks for the Knicks, is out indefinitely with a back injury. The team looked fine Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks, but the offense looked out of sorts against Brooklyn with Raymond Felton launching shots as the team's only point guard.
[Related: Brook Lopez out with foot sprain]
Each team sits at 10-4, with a 1.5 game advantage on a Philadelphia 76ers team that's playing surprisingly well in the absence of Andrew Bynum, although they've lost some embarrassing games in the early going. Next is the Boston Celtics, who are only 8-7 after their double-digit loss to the Nets Wednesday night. The Nets seem like the better team in that matchup, having won each of the first two battles between the two, opening up a 20-point lead in the first half Wednesday before a frustrated Rajon Rondo picked a fight with Kris Humphries, causing both players to get ejected.