April 23, 2012: A very final final from the Prudential Center in Newark. The New Jersey Nets lose their last-ever home game to the Philadelphia 76ers, 105-87.
A crowd of 18,711 saw MarShon Brooks lead the Nets with just 18 points. The Sixers had no player score more than 15, but 5 players score at least 13, and 8 players scored at least 8.
New Jersey Nets, born October 21, 1977 (with a 111-103 loss to the New Orleans Jazz at the Rutgers Athletic Center), died April 23, 2012. Age, 34. Time of death, 9:55 PM. Cause of death: Murder, stabbed in the back by Bruce Ratner. Wound mortal, but death took 8 years.
They played at the Rutgers Athletic Center (now the Jersey Mike's Arena) from 1977 to 1981, then at the Meadowlands Arena until 2010. That building was named the Brendan Byrne Arena from 1981 to 1996; the Continental Airlines Arena until 2007; and the Izod Center until 2012. After the Nets left, it reverted to the name "Meadowlands Arena," and has been converted into TV studios.
They groundshared with the NHL's New Jersey Devils at that arena from 1982 to 2007, and again with the Devils at the Prudential Center in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, before the Barclays Center finally opened in Brooklyn, and the move could be made.
The Nets played one more game under the New Jersey name, on April 26, losing to the Toronto Raptors, 98-67 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.
New Jersey Nets: NBA Eastern Conference Champions 2002 and 2003. But they could have been so much more. Requiescat in pace.
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April 23, 2012 was a Monday. There were 5 other games played in the NBA that day:
* The Washington Wizards beat the Charlotte Hornets, 101-73 at the MCI Center in Washington. (It is now named the Capital One Arena.)
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Detroit Pistons, 103-97 at a full house in the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 109-101 at the FedEx Arena in Memphis.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 92-86 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 124-89 to Sam Houston Coliseum.
Two Stanley Cup Playoff games were played. The New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2; and the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the TD Garden in Boston.
And while football was out of season, there was baseball to be played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 7-4 at Rangers Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. (It's now named Choctaw Stadium.) Alex Rodriguez hit a home run, Derek Jeter got 4 hits, and CC Sabathia was the winning pitcher.
* The New York Mets got swept in a doubleheader by the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field. The Giants won the opener, 6-1; and the nightcap, 7-2.
* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Houston Astros, 6-5 at Miller Park in Milwaukee. (It's now named American Family Field.)
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-5 at Target Field in Minneapolis.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-5 at Chase Field in Phoenix.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-0 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum). Jake Peavy pitched a 3-hit shutout.
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