Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and the Brooklyn Nets could use the time off. Tonight, they played their third game in four days in three cities and two countries. It didn’t help that they faced the New York Knicks, who’ve played just two in their last five days.
Jordi Fernández would be the last one to excuse a weak effort from his team on the account of burnout or fatigue. The day he does that is the Nets Twitter collectively agrees on Cam Thomas’ value.
“I understand the emotions of playing
on the road, playing three in four, whatever the case may be, which is not an excuse at the end of the day,” he said. “As you grow, and you try to build winning habits, you go out there and prepare yourself for every single game.”
But Fernández didn’t get that from his guys tonight. They didn’t lack effort, just the talent to hang with their crosstown rival, and we’re all okay with that.
Be that as it may, it was Brooklyn who led early in this second battle of the boroughs tonight. The Knicks, supposedly now known for their offense, started the game just 3-11 from the field. The Nets came out switching, and all defenders were ready for every Jalen Brunson jab step and head fake in the opening minutes.
Brooklyn’s offense was no model of efficiency either, but it was one of resiliency, and good enough to have them up two after the end of the first. The Nets tallied seven second chance points in the quarter, surely benefitting from Mitchell Robinson’s absence. Fresh off his big game, Tyrese Martin was a big part of that, notching two first quarter offensive boards to lead the team. Clowney led in the scoring department with eight, catching and stepping into a three right over Jordan Clarkson a few seconds before the horn.
Jalen Wilson and Drake Powell joined Martin as our sixth, seventh, and eight men tonight. They stayed on the floor to begin the second as well. But even with those younger, less experienced guys running around the top of the key, it was the bigs who New York picked on in the second.
Clowney’s already made notable strides this season by leveraging his size like a true big would, but defending larger centers backing him down against the basket might never be his forte. The Knicks sure thought that too, isolating Karl Anthony Towns on a handful of times in the first half, even their first two possessions of the game. In fairness, KAT also took Day’Ron Sharpe and Claxton the rack once or twice, but it all added up to 28 first half point in the paint for New York and a 51-48 halftime lead.
The Knicks led by as many as a dozen in the second period, but struggled everywhere else outside of the paint, hitting just three mid-range shots and going 3-14 from deep in the first half. That was enough to mask Michael Porter Jr.’s rocky start to the game. While No. 17 has a god-given talent for hitting jumpers nobody else can (or should) get off, in the first half, he just looked like a regular guy taking bad shots, shooting just 4-12 from the field. Regardless, his backup on the depth chart, Ziaire Williams, was a DNP.
While not to the level of Ziaire’s, Dëmin also had a quiet first half. He put in just five points, but did get two off a steal from Mikal Bridges. For any Brooklyn fans not still sour over his exit, please watch and enjoy…
New York got it back up to double digits roughly halfway through the third. Brunson and Towns operated individually for much of the first half, but brought in a few points together via their two-man game in the third. They also matched their 3-point output for the entire first half less than eight minutes into the third. You knew they would eventually start making them, and that’s exactly what happened, as New York shot 6-10 from deep in the frame.
Powell may have gotten the last one, stepping back on Tyler Kolek to nail his second triple of the quarter at the buzzer, but the Nets still went into the fourth behind by an 89-75 score.
Fernández went with Martin, Wilson, Clowney, Sharpe, and Powell to open the fourth, who made it a 10 point game with 10:24 to go. Powell continued to target Kolek and get good results in the process…
Not long after, KAT finished and-one to give himself 34 for the night. He took a tough fall in the process and after hitting the free throw, Ariel Hukporti got up off the bench assumedly ready to come in for New York’s best player all night.
But what seemed like a faint opportunity for the Nets to come back quickly revealed itself to be anything but. Towns hit a deep three a few plays later, propelling New York on a 7-2 jolt that put the Nets down 19 with 6:37 to play.
While that put the game out of reach, garbage time was no waste. Clowney knocked in three more triples in the fourth, giving himself a career-bests in scoring (31 PTS) and triples made (7). Dëmin also had a nice drive through the defense to give him nine points despite 4-11 shooting.
Final: New York Knicks 113, Brooklyn Nets 100
Rodney Rogers Honored
The Barclays Center held a moment of silence for New Jersey Net and Wake Forest legend Rodney Rogers before tonight’s game. He passed away last week at age 54. Rogers was a major part of New Jersey’s deep postseason runs in 2003 and 2004.
Next Up
The Nets will host the Philadelphia 76ers at home on Black Friday at 7:30 p.m. Philly smoked Brooklyn by 20+ point earlier this month. They’ve since cooled off, sitting at 9-7 in slotted into a Play-In position at the time of writing. They’ll probably view this contest as a “get right” game — the Nets will do their best to make it anything but.
