The Barclays Center Experience

Located in Brooklyn's historic Flatbush neighborhood, the brand new Barclays Center is Brooklyn's new jewel, and is the new home of the Nets. After spending years across the river in New Jersey's Meadowlands Sports Complex, the Nets are in their first season in N.Y.C.'s most populace borough.

Barclays Center before the Nets game against the Wizards

The Nets logo at center court

Nets mascot The BrooklyKnight

Nets logo illuminated during introductions

Nets huddle after player introductions

Already, the arena has made a name itself from its looks. The exterior redefines what an NBA arena should look like. It almost looks like a giant spaceship has landed in the heart of Brooklyn.  The sleek inside matches the Nets' new sharp color scheme of all black, a move no doubt inspired by rapper and entertainment mogul Jay-Z. Coupled with Jay-Z's creative inspiration, and majority billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov's generous monetary support, the Nets have recreated their organization, and branded themselves as one of the hippest teams in basketball.

Wizards center Emeka Okafor defends Nets center Andray Blatche

Nets center Kris Humphries goes up for the slam

Emeka Okafor takes the hook shot over Kris Humphries

The Nets dance team: The Brooklynettes

Nets and Wizards players dive for the loose ball

Nets forward Mirz Teletovic goes for the layup

Nets forward Tornike Shengelia goes for the layup

Wizards guard Garrett Temple tries to intercept a pass on its way to Nets guard Tyshawn Taylor

Wizards guard John Wall runs past Nets forward Mirza Teletovic

Nets center Andray Blatche and Wizards forward Jan Vesely fight for the rebound

Wizards forward Kevin Seraphin flies in for the rebound

Nets forward Gerald Wallace spins on Wizards forward Cartier Martin

Kevin Seraphin shoots over Andray Blatche

John Wall drives on Nets forward Kris Joseph

Trevor Booker shoots over Kris Humphries

Garrett Temple drives on Kris Joseph

Jan Vesely deflects the ball out to the perimeter

The actual game didn't have much bearing on the rest of the season, strongly resembling an exhibition contest. Brooklyn had already clinched the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Meanwhile, the Wizards had already been mathematically eliminated from post-season contention, and were playing for mere pride.

Despite trailing by four at the end of the third quarter, the home team held on for a 106-101 victory behind 20 points from both Kris Humphries and Andray Blatche. Both Deron Williams and Brook Lopez sat out to rest up for the playoffs, which begin on Saturday.

Washington was led by John Wall with 18 points and 12 assists. Kevin Seraphin added 17 points and 7 rebounds off the bench.

The Wizards will finish off their 2012-13 season against the Bulls on Wednesday night in Chicago.

Nets Breeze Past Wizards

The Washington Wizards had split two meetings with the Brooklyn Nets this season, prior to their Friday night contest at the Barclays Center. For the Wizards, it was their first trip to the new arena in Brooklyn. Washington was handicapped with the absence of Bradley Beal, who remained sidelined with a sprained ankle he suffered in last Sundays win over the Sixers in D.C.

Without their standout rookie, the Wizards fell behind 59-33 going into the half. Nets point guard Deron Williams set an NBA record with 9 three-pointers in the first half.

Despite outscoring the Nets 25-15 in the 3rd quarter, Washington just couldn't quite get back in the ball game, and fell to Brooklyn by a score of 95-78.

The Nets were led by Williams, who finished with a season-high 42 points, including 11 three-pointers.

Nets point guard Deron Williams set an NBA record with 9 three-pointers in the first half, as Brooklyn defeated the Washington Wizards 95-78. (Photo by Debby Wong- USA TODAY Sports)

John Wall paced the Wizards with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Nene and Kevin Seraphin contributed 11 points a piece.

Year Of The Snake

After downing the New York Knicks by a score of 106-96 on Wednesday, the Washington Wizards hosted the other New York basketball team, the Brooklyn Nets, on Friday night at the Verizon Center. On their last visit to D.C., the Nets narrowly escaped with a 115-113 double overtime win, capped by a Joe Johnson jumper with 0.7 seconds left to play.

The Nets rely on forward Reggie Evans for his rebounding and defensive tenacity.

 Nets center Brook Lopez will be making his first all-star game appearance this year in Houston, replacing injured Celtics guard Rajon Rondo on the Eastern Conference squad.

Nets star point guard Deron Williams is averaging 16.8 points and 7.7 assists per game this season.

The Nets are hoping their nucleus of Williams, Lopez, Joe Johnson, and Gerald Wallace can make them legitimate title contenders.

Nets rookie guard Tyshawn Taylor grew up in Hoboken, NJ, not far from Brooklyn, and even closer to the Nets' former home at the Meadowlands.

Nets rookie forward Mirza Teletovic, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, takes time to sign a jersey for a young admirer.

It was a festive night at the Verizon Center. The Wizards were hosting their Chinese New Year celebration, and the arena was decked out in all the related decorations. There was even a parade featuring dancers dressed up as Chinese New Year's characters. Apparently, 2013 is the year of the snake. I was so interested in the parade circling around the concourse, that I ended my photography of the Brooklyn Nets warmups early just to go take a look at the festivities.

The NBA provided the Wizards with this on-court decal in celebration of Chinese New Year.

 Once I actually started work for the evening, some of my first subjects were people who were still in, or had just changed out of their costumes for the pregame celebrations. There was loud drumming as a part of the parade that could be heard all around the arena, which added an almost hypnotic soundtrack for pregame fan photography.

Costumed dancers parade around the Verizon Center concourse, as part of the Wizards' Chinese New Year celebration

This man on the left, who had performed in the pregame parade, poses for a picture with his traditional Chinese New Year costume.

It was an eclectic group of fans on hand tonight. There were a sizable number of Chinese-Americans present to take part in the New Year's celebrations, including the Coordination Council of Chinese American Associations.

There were also a considerable number of fans representing both teams. The contingent of Brooklyn fans was not as substantial as that of the Knicks, but there were still a fair number of people decked out in black and white Nets gear. There were still more Wizards fans than there were Nets fans, though, which was not the case on Wednesday night when the Knicks were in town.

It wasn't until during the game that I realized I was no longer permitted to enter one of the areas in the arena that I usually pass through several times over the course of the night. The Acela Club level restaurant was now off-limits to fan photographers. My supervisor had informed me of this just before I was about to make my rounds on the second floor. Apparently, some of the season ticket holders had complained to the ushers that the fan photographers were a distraction to the dining experience. I couldn't help but shake my head and laugh. I mean, its a basketball game. Quite frankly, I have very little clue as to why one would desire, or even try to attain an intimate dining ambiance at a sporting event, surrounded by thousands of other people.

I was able to take most of my pictures on the first floor, which was ground zero for the New Year's celebrations, but took a couple of excursions to the upper levels. Fans were pretty laid back tonight, and were more than willing to get their picture taken. That may have been because it was a definitively festive Friday night, or it may have been due to the fact that the home team was hauling some serious ass against the boys from Brooklyn.

When I finally stopped working, I watched the final 2 minutes of what turned out to be a blowout 89-74 win in favor of the Wizards. Bradley Beal, who made his return to the lineup tonight after being out with a sore right wrist, ignited Washington to victory with 24 points, while Jordan Crawford chipped in 23 off the bench.

Sophomore Slump? In his second year in the league, Nets swing man Marshon Brooks is averaging 7 points and 18 minutes less per game than in his rookie year.

Marshon Brooks, right, is greeted by Brook Lopez, left, as he leaves the court and heads back for the locker room.

No worries: Nets center Andray Blatche was all smiles after the game, despite Brooklyn's 15 point loss to his former team.

The Nets were led by Brook Lopez, tallying 27 points and 13 rebounds, along with Deron Williams, who contributed 24 points and 10 assists in what was Brooklyn's 21st loss of the season.

Hello Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Nets had been having a tumultuous start to the 2012-13 NBA season when they descended upon the Verizon Center to take on the Washington Wizards. Brooklyn, who has the second highest payroll in the league, got off to a torrid start, winning 11 of their first 15 games, but took a nosedive ending up at 14-14 after their next 13, resulting in the firing of head coach Avery Johnson. Since then, interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo, famously involved in the Latrell Sprewell choking incident of 1997, had steered the Nets to a 3-1 record since Johnson's departure. The Nets were coming off a big win against the last team Carlesimo coached, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and were looking to stay hot against the 4-26 Wizards.

I arrived at the Verizon Center administrative entrance at 4:30 P.M. but was told to wait patiently in the lobby. Apparently the green stickers that would serve as my credentials were yet to have been made, or delivered to the front desk. Finally, after a half-hour wait, during which I watched a fight breakout at a McDonald's next door to the Verizon Center, I went into the arena and headed for the lower bowl, where I had been chased out of  before the last game against Dallas. Instead of making myself too conspicuous by going all the way to the floor seats, I made myself comfortable at the top of the lower level, and took some shots of players warming up with a zoom lens, before heading to the second floor, and then the fourth floor to do the same type of zoom shooting. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could get quality shots with the zoom lens from a distance that were just as impressive as the photos I had been taking with a regular lens from up close.

After picking up my work camera from the office, I returned to the lower bowl to take fan pictures and was immediately surprised by the number of Brooklyn fans that had turned out. If I had to guess, the arena was at least 40% Nets fans. I figured it probably didn't help the Wizards cause, on this night, that there were so many away fans in the building and a majority of the D.C. fans were more focused on the Washington Redskins upcoming playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. In fact, people had been so captivated by the Redskins in D.C. that after recent Wizards home games, tonight included, fans had left the Verizon Center chanting RGIII!, RGIII!, RGIII!, hailing the rookie QB Robert Griffin III, who has rejuvenated the football team, and guided them to their first NFC East title since 1999.

I was able to shoot my way to 120 shots before the game started, and was at 200 by the half. I was informed by my supervisor that I should avoid drinking alcoholic beverages during the game,as he had just spotted one of my fellow fan photographers boozing it up at the Dewar's club level bar. Booze or no booze, I was on a roll with the pictures, and towards the end of the 4th quarter had eclipsed 300 shots en route to 345 pictures for the night, which was good enough to take off and watch the end of the game from the top of the lower bowl behind the Wizards basket.

Wizards guard Martell Webster goes to the foul line

Martell Webster takes a free throw

I joined the action with 7 seconds left in regulation to see Deron Williams make a beautiful feed to Gerald Wallace, who missed the layup, which was followed with a put back dunk by Brook Lopez to give Brooklyn a 93-91 lead with 3.2 seconds left on the clock. On the ensuing possession, Wizards guard Garrett Temple in-bounded the ball to Nene, who converted a sweeping hook shot over Lopez with less than a second left, making the building erupt in jubilation.

Wizards guard Jordan Crawford works the pick and roll with forward Nene

Jordan Crawford is defended by Nets guard Keith Bogans

Nene sets the screen for Crawford 

In the first overtime period, the Wizards had a commanding 99-93 lead with 2:35 left to go. Later, the Nets would pull to within 1 off a Deron Williams layup with 26 seconds left, before finally taking the lead on a pair of Brook Lopez free throws. Down by 3 with 3 seconds left in the first overtime, Jordan Crawford in-bounded the ball to the rookie Bradley Beal who stroked a long range bomb from downtown at the buzzer to send the game to a double overtime.

Wizards rookie guard Bradley Beal...

...dribbles around a screen from center Emeka Okafor

In the second OT, the Wizards found themselves down 113-111 with 9 seconds left, but Beal was able draw a shooting foul on Andray Blatche, hitting both free throws to tie it up. On the next possession, the Nets put the ball in the hands of their top shooter, Joe Johnson. With 4 seconds left on the clock, Johnson started crossing over in front of Bradley Beal, and then finally with 0.7 seconds left, drained the game winner over Beal and the outstretched arms of a lunging Martell Webster. The Wizards would have one last chance, as Garrett Temple in-bounded to Jordan Crawford, who jacked up an air-ball from beyond the arc, sending Washington to their 27th loss of the season, and earning the Nets their 4th win in the P.J. Carlesimo era.

Bradley Beal gets ready to shoot two free throws with 9 seconds left  in double OT and the Wizards down 113-111

Beal ties the game at 113

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Deron Williams was also solid, chipping in 24 points and 10 assists, while former Wizard Andray Blatche had a double-double off the bench with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 24 points on 10-19 shooting from the field. Jordan Crawford contributed 23 points off the bench, 12 of them coming from downtown.

Rondo Locks Down Williams, Celtics Knock Off Nets

The Brooklyn Nets jumped out to an early first quarter lead, but that was the only time they were ever really in the game. Rajon Rondo's stifling defense held Deron Williams to only 10 points, scoring 19 points himself in the 93-76 victory. Joe Johnson, who was double-teamed for most of the day was only able to manage 12 points on 4-14 shooting from the field. Rondo led all scorers, but the Celtics received nice contributions from Jared Sullinger, who had 16 points and 7 rebounds, and Jeff Green who chipped in 15 points off the bench.

Celtics forward Paul Pierce drives on Nets guard Keith Bogans. Pierce finished with 8 points and 10 assists.