Nets’ Opener Against Knicks on Thursday Will Be Played

Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

Barclays Center in Brooklyn is served by 11 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road, but storm damage and flooded tracks brought all trains in the city to a halt.

The most anticipated Brooklyn sports event in a half-century — the Nets’ debut at Barclays Center — will unfold as planned, despite lingering concerns in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Mud and debris at a subway entrance in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighborhood. Flooding caused heavy damage to the city’s mass transit infrastructure.

The Nets, who are playing under the Brooklyn banner after 35 years in New Jersey, will tip off the new era against the Knicks at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

The game was left in doubt for most of the day Tuesday as the city worked to recover from Monday’s monstrous storm, which knocked out mass transit and left several areas without electricity. The N.B.A. initially deferred any judgment on Thursday’s game while it assessed the situation.

The decision to proceed finally came Tuesday evening and was announced with a one-sentence statement on the N.B.A.’s Twitter feed. League officials declined to elaborate, and it remained unclear how more than 17,000 fans would make their way to the game without subway and rail service, which remained offline because of flooding and storm damage.

Barclays Center was built on a major transit hub, in the hope that most customers would arrive by subway or the Long Island Rail Road. City officials have said it will take four to five days before the bulk of subway service returns.

In a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that he hoped the game would be played and that he planned to attend. But he noted, pointedly, “It’s going to be tough to get there.”

The lack of mass transit could present a nightmare for commuting fans, as well as those living in the surrounding neighborhood. Barclays Center sits on Brooklyn’s busiest intersection, at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. Parking in the area is extremely limited.

There were hints earlier Tuesday that the game would be played as scheduled. Both teams, as well as the officiating crew, were advised to plan as if it would be played. TNT, which is broadcasting the game, sent a crew to New York ahead of the hurricane.

“As far as I’ve been told, it’s still on,” Knicks Coach Mike Woodson said. “We’re preparing to play Thursday.”

A Barclays Center spokesman said the arena came through the storm without any serious damage. The only remaining concern, then, is getting fans to the building. The Nets have two more home games coming up, Saturday (against Toronto) and Monday (against Minnesota).

The N.B.A. has postponed 11 regular-season games since 2000, mostly because of severe weather and weather-related travel problems. But league officials have set a high bar for what warrants a postponement. As a general rule, they will allow a game to proceed as long as both teams and the referees can safely reach the arena, even if the game is played before only a few thousand fans.

 The N.B.A. consulted with the Nets and the mayor’s office before making the final call, and Bloomberg’s public statement in favor of the game helped influence the decision. The announcement came late in the day because league officials were awaiting final confirmation from city officials.

Rescheduling the Knicks-Nets game would have been challenging, given national television and arena commitments. On the plus side, the league would not have had to factor in travel schedules.

Any delay would have been a blow to the Nets — who are set to host the first major sporting event in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left in 1957 — and to their fans. Team officials have been awaiting this moment ever since ground was broken on the new arena. The franchise has undergone a complete makeover, on and off the court, since leaving New Jersey earlier this year, and is now projected as a top playoff team in the Eastern Conference.

The season opener against the Knicks also heralds the start of a new rivalry. Although the Nets and Knicks have been nominal rivals over the years, there was never as much fascination as there is now, with the Nets playing in the same city.

“That will be a very monumental game for Brooklyn,” said the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony, who was born in Red Hook. He added, “For us to take place in that first game in history, it’ll be a fun moment for myself, being from Brooklyn, growing up there, knowing that the energy that Brooklyn has right now as a borough. I’m looking forward to that game Thursday.”

Barclays Center did cancel two events in the wake of the hurricane: a Journey concert on Tuesday and a Smashing Pumpkins show scheduled for Wednesday night, presumably because of logistical concerns.

The Nets are already coping with the storm’s aftermath. Their training center in East Rutherford, N.J., lost electricity and was cut off to traffic by flooding and debris, prompting the team to cancel practice Tuesday. The Nets will practice at Barclays Center on Wednesday, and possibly for several more days, depending on how long it takes to restore power at the training center.

Most of the Nets’ players live in New Jersey, which experienced massive flooding and power failures. Two Nets — Josh Childress and Mirza Teletovic — had their homes flooded in Weehawken, forcing them to make alternate living arrangements. Two others — Reggie Evans and C. J. Watson — were without electricity. Tyshawn Taylor’s apartment in Hoboken was surrounded by water.

Most of the team planned to spend Tuesday night in Brooklyn hotels, to simplify their commute to practice on Wednesday.

The Knicks’ training center in Westchester County was unaffected by the storm, and the team practiced there late Tuesday afternoon. Most of their players live close to the facility. Marcus Camby was the only one who could not make it, because of fallen trees in his neighborhood.

“Thank God everything is all right with everybody on the team and their families,” the Knicks’ Tyson Chandler said. “It’s been a little crazy. My heart goes out to everybody and their families, everybody in New York who’s dealing with this.”

Nate Taylor and Mosi Secret contributed reporting.