Nets-Knicks opener at Barclays Center now postponed

• Knicks, Nets was scheduled to be their season opener
• Public transportation is best way to reach Barclays Center
• $1 billion building is bringing pro sports back to Brooklyn

Thursday night's NBA opener at the new $1 billion Barclays Center in Brooklyn between the Nets and New York Knicks will be postponed after all.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg made the announcement at a Wednesday afternoon news conference that dealt with a variety of issues tied to storm damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Bloomberg said he made the recommendation to the NBA to hold off on the game.

"I'm sorry about the game," he said. "I was looking forward to it. I was going to take my daughter to it."

He added that he knows the fans are disappointed as are the players.

"I know lots of people will be disappointed. .. The players will be disappointed," Bloomberg said.

Barclays is the new home of the New Jersey-transplanted Nets, who have returned professional sports to Brooklyn for the first time since the Dodgers left in 1957 for Los Angeles. Thursday would have been the season opener for the Nets and Knicks, with TNT showing it as the first game on a doubleheader night.

Nets point guard Deron Williams told ESPN, "Definitely disappointed we won't get to play the home opener against the Knicks."

The Nets' home opener will now be Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET against the Toronto Raptors, a far less glamorous matchup and right now without the national TNT TV audience -- not exactly how the Nets and the NBA intended to showcase the league's newest arena. Doors will open at 5;30 p.m. Brett Yormark, CEO of the Nets and Barclays Center, said in a statement, "Fans are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy select food and beverage specials from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

It is unclear when the Nets-Knicks game will be rescheduled. Knicks General Manager Glen Grunwald said via Twitter that his team's home opener Friday against the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden is still scheduled. That is set to be shown nationally on ESPN. Whether the usual sellout crowd can make it to the game with all the city's power and transportation issues remains to be seen.

TNT on Thursday will show two one-hour episodes of The Mentalist on Thursday in place of the Knicks-Nets game, followed by the pregame NBA Tip-Off show and the second half of the NBA doubleheader, the Oklahoma City Thunder at the San Antonio Spurs at 9:30 p.m. ET. Both TNT and ESPN say they have no plans to carry Saturday's Nets game, with TNT's Nate Smeltz saying TNT expects to get a make-good game so it can air its scheduled 52-game NBA regular-season schedule.

USA TODAY Sports' Robert Klemko, at Barclays Center after the Bloomberg announcement, reports signs there announced Wednesday night's Smashing Pumpkins concert was canceled due to the storm's aftermath. Basketball fans lined up at the box office to find out about Thursday's scheduled game.

Bronx native Jose Lora came to inquire about tickets and left disappointed after learning of the cancellation.

"I was happy for Brooklyn. Now they have their own team," he says. "This was supposed to be their coming out party, and versus the Knicks? C'mon. That's a big thing.

"When the World Trade Center went down, one of the big things that happened afterwards was with baseball, when the Yankees went back to the World Series. This game would've brought the city back, and taken peoples' minds off of what happened."

Several of the stores which line the perimeter of Barclays Center were reopened Wednesday as the city resumed partial bus services. Maysa Phaison manages the Rocawear store – which carries Jay-Z's clothing line for men. Jay-Z is part-owner of the Nets.

"I'm bummed. It sucks," Phaison said after learning the opener was canceled. "We really depend on traffic from the concerts and from the games. For preseason games we were super packed, so we were expecting a really big turnout for the Knicks and the Nets."

The Brooklyn native remained optimistic for a large Saturday crowd for the game against Toronto ."I think by Saturday hopefully everybody will get it together," Phaison says. "Even if the trains are not working I feel like the bus service will be more reliable, because right now, it's not very reliable."

NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, in explaining the league's reversal from Tuesday night's announcement that the game would go on, said in a statement: "Mayor Bloomberg informed us this afternoon that after further analysis of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy that he felt it was in the best interests of the city of New York, the teams and our fans that we postpone the Knicks-Nets game scheduled for Thursday night. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this devastating storm."

Public transportation is the main artery to and from Barclays Center, located at Flatbush and Atlantic avenues in Brooklyn's Prospect Heights neighborhood. There are 11 subway lines, the Long Island Rail Road and 11 bus lines dropping riders off just steps from the arena's main entrance.

With mass transportation, especially on subways, expected to remain a problem Saturday, Bloomberg said the city will provide additional bus transportation to and from Barclays Center for the game against Toronto.

"Our hearts go out to everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy. We know these are trying times for so many of you and our thoughts are with you," Yormark said in the statement.