The Brooklyn Nets broke one losing streak yesterday. They break another at Madison Square Garden this evening, losing to the New York Knicks for a 15th straight time.
For whatever it’s worth, which can’t be much, the Nets did flirt with their first win over their crosstown rivals since 2023. In a way, they were close, as Brooklyn led late and never trailed by more than nine entering the fourth. But in another, they were as distant as ever, completely unfolding and playing their worst basketball in the moments
it mattered most.
You don’t need me to tell you this, but the latter is what separates the winners from the losers in this league.
The Nets began tonight with the same five they fielded in their win last night against Indiana. And, Nolan Traoré picked up right where he left off, splashing a deep triple and assisting on a Day’Ron Sharpe jam during Brooklyn’s third and fourth possessions of the game to help Brooklyn establish and early lead.
The defense, however, wasn’t so easily copy and pasted over from the prior game. Whether it was miscommunication on switches or doubling in the gap and living with the result, the Nets gave up several corner threes early in the contest. Shooting 6-14 from deep in the first, New York caught and overtook Brooklyn quickly, going up 27-21 after one.
While Julius Randle received a warm welcome in the Garden tonight after introducing Brooklyn’s starting five, he looked rather uncomfortable on the floor early on, beginning the game 0-3 from the field with a turnover. He did, however, assist on a Mikel Brown Jr. ATO triple in the opening frame.
Oddly enough, it was the 20-year-old rookie playing in MSG for the first time who looked at ease, moving well around New York’s defensive pressure both on and off ball. After sitting out the last game for back injury management, Brown Jr. put up five first quarter points on 2-3 shooting. With five seconds left in the frame, he also dished an assist after blowing past Landry Shamet and Duece McBride to find Mo Wagner in front of the cylinder for an and-one.
But with 160+ career games in the Garden, Julius Randle was going to find his footing already. That’s exactly what happened in the subsequent quarter’s first four minutes, as Julius pitched in four points to help the Nets start the period with a 9-0 run.
The Nets momentarily retook the lead until a wayward Traoré pass found its way to Mikal Bridges, who took it all the way down the other way for an uncontested jam. Despite beginning the second 1-8 from the field while the Nets opened 6-13, the Knicks benefitted from five extra free throws to stay afloat, even as Traoré made up for that turnover with another fine period. Nolan hit another triple in the second to stay perfect, adding 11 points and two assists in the first half…
However, it wasn’t enough to overcome Brooklyn’s woeful perimeter defense and the free throw discrepancy. Michael Porter Jr. had little-to-no interest closing out hard as the Nets gave up another bushel of corner threes in the second. The Knicks, despite having just 13 made field goals at halftime, went 15-16 from the line, while the Nets were just 4-6.
And while the fan in you might want to pound your fist and chalk that up to an unfair “champ-friendly” whistle, the Nets weren’t wise, even if innocent defenders, often fouling late in the shot clock and even the game clock, as Randle left his feet to give Brunson an extra pair right before the second quarter buzzer sounded. The Nets also fouled New York on three 3-point attempts.
So, Brooklyn trailed at the break by a 51-44 score. And in the third quarter, they continued to lurk, as both teams traded buckets early on to keep the deficit intact.
The Knicks did piece together a 7-0 run at the heart of the period, threatening to turn this into the blowout the 14.5 point spread advertised. That was, until Brown Jr. got back on the attack. He bolted through the New York defense for two quick finished at the rim to ignited a 13-0 burst from Brooklyn, capped off by triples from Porter Jr. and Mo Wagner, which gave them a small lead.
Brooklyn maintained that advantage, up 79-75 ahead the final frame. It was Brooklyn’s first lead against the Knicks going into the fourth quarter since January of 2024.
It disappeared in a flash, then became difficult to believe it had ever been there at all even quicker.
The Knicks began the fourth with a 9-0 jolt after the Nets missed two long threes and Wagner smoked a layup, which allowed New York to rebound, run, and shoot with space. Then, after a string of Brooklyn turnovers, it boiled into an extend 16-2 run. Like they had last summer, the Knicks looked like they owned the fourth quarter. The Nets looked like they were just renting space.
Traoré hit his fourth triple to pump the brakes and make it a 91-84 game with 6:31 to go, but rather than swinging it, that shot got swallowed up by the New York momentum. The Nets started missing shots around the rim losing all the 50/50 balls to their opponents. With 3:50 to go, the Knicks had outscored Brooklyn in the period 23-5, and led on the scoreboard 98-84. Traoré finished the game with 17 points and four assists while shooting 5-6 from deep. He turned it over twice, but also grabbed a steal and a blocked shot.
Shellshocked, the Nets could only let time trickle away by that point. Randle finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but went 1-3 from the field with four turnovers in the fourth. Porter Jr. finished with 18 points while shooting 4-11 from deep, but went 0-2 with zero points in nine fourth quarter minutes. Brown Jr. finished with 13 points, three assists, and two rebounds, but went 0-4 in the fourth with a turnovers.
Final: New York Knicks 103, Brooklyn Nets 90
Next Up
Brooklyn gets a day off before going back home to host the Charlotte Hornets yet again, tipping off on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. EST. After a brutal stretch to open the season, minus their first game, which of course came against Charlotte, this begins a winnable stretch of games for the Nets, with contests against Atlanta, Dallas, and New Orleans to follow.
