Deron Williams on Nets making playoffs over Knicks: 'It's part of the takeover'

When the New Jersey Nets moved to Brooklyn for the 2012-13 season, the rivalry with the New York Knicks seemed inevitable.

And while it didn't quite heat up to the degree expected that season, this offseason brought with it a great deal of trash talk between the two sides. Of course, the Nets had loaded up, and both teams were coming off very strong seasons, so each had reason to feel confident.

When they both struggled mightily out of the gate, it lost some luster. But the Nets turned things around and are playoff bound, while the Knicks continued to flounder. Now, Brooklyn is the city's only playoff team, and they're ready to brag about it.

"Good for us, good for our brand, good for Brooklyn basketball," point guard Deron Williams said Tuesday. "It's part of the takeover."

Head coach Jason Kidd, a former Knick himself, was also willing to kick the Knicks while they're down, sarcastically saying that the rivalry is "At an all-time high."

The Knicks can exact the smallest of measures of revenge on Tuesday when the team's square off at Barcalys Center, though it will matter little to either side in the grand scheme of things.