The Brooklyn Nets came into Madison Square Garden looking up from the bottom of the conference with a 1–5 record. They’re the league’s youngest team, and it shows on the court. And they’d played yesterday in Indiana. Their game against the Knicks (3–4) was either going to be a gimme or a trap. For much of the night, it smelled like the latter.
The home team decided to hurl a ton of three-pointers (44 of their 75 shots came from deep), sleepwalk through three quarters, and let Landry Shamet carry them
for much of the night. Meanwhile, Brooklyn got inspired play from rookie Mikel Brown Jr. and won the third quarter 35–24 to take a four-point lead into the fourth. In the final frame, the Knicks came alive (with a special appearances by Tyler Kolek and Jordan Clarkson), outscored the visitors 28–11, and pulled out a 103–90 win.
In the first quarter, the Nets took a four-point lead, which the Knicks deleted and flipped into a nine-point advantage. So far this season, OG Anunoby (18 PTS, 3-7 3PT, 2 STL, 38 MIN) has been up and down, and perhaps Mike Brown was hoping to inject some excitement into his wing by calling his number early. Anunoby attempted two three-pointers (making one) and converted a cutting layup (dimed by Karl-Anthony Towns) to get New York on the scoreboard.
The game featured a fair amount of jostling, but the refs let it go. Midway through the frame, Landry Shamet (22 PTS, 6-8 FG, 29 MIN), Andre Drummond (9 RBS, 4 PTS, 13 MIN), and Miles McBride (6 PTS, 16 MIN) subbed in. Jalen Brunson (19 PTS, 4-11 3PT, 6 AST, 33 MIN) made three of his first four attempts from the yard before Jose Alvarado (back from a sprained ankle) relieved him at the three-minute mark. Cap and Deuce combined for five treys in the first.
Brooklyn shot so poorly that the rims seemed magnetically opposed to their attempts. Twice or thrice, the ball rolled around the cylinder before flying off to become a defensive rebound. Julius Randle (21 PTS, 10 RBS) and Michael Porter, Jr. (18 PTS, 4-11 3PT) are Brooklyn’s marquee players, but neither did much in the first frame. The former missed all three of his shot attempts, and the latter scored five points on five attempts. On the whole, the Nets missed 13 shots and turned the ball over four times. At the break, they trailed New York, 27–21.
Mercury is in retrograde, and the second quarter proved it with a few rarities. Mikal Bridges (6 PTS, 1-of-7 FG, 16 MIN) attempted his first free throws, six whole games into the campaign. Towns (11 PTS, 16 RBS) played 13 minutes before taking his second shot, but grabbed his tenth rebound of the night with six minutes left in the half. And Mohamed “Free Mo” Diawara (0 PTS, 6 MIN) appeared after playing just one minute so far this season. The sophomore grabbed a rebound.
While the Nets don’t excel at any conventional basketball skills, they do have teeth. Brooklyn played yesterday (beating the Hoosiers of Indiana), but your lyin’ eyes would convince you that New York had the more fatigued fellas. Even the Garden crowd seemed mid-yawn for most of the second period. This borough buddy has a rotten record, but they took Boston into overtime this season, and the Knicks watched them score nine unanswered points early in the frame. A late-quarter bomb from Brunson steadied the boat but failed to ignite the team. Only when the half had nearly closed did Josh Hart (8 PTS, 7 AST, 6 RBS, +22) and Shamet—14 flippin points and counting!—connect from deep to give New York an eight-point lead. Then, after Randle made two free throws, he fouled Brunson on a foot-on-the-line jumper with 0.5 seconds left. Oh, Julius, I remember ye well. Intermission score: 51–44.
Rookie Mikel Brown, Jr. was having quite a MSG debut:
The score was a lot closer than the game felt. Our heroes had been outshot 40% to 36% from the field. They’d survived on threes and free throws while barely making any hay inside the arc. Ten of their 13 buckets came from downtown (shooting 40% there), and they’d taken 16 freebies to Brooklyn’s six. Rebounds and turnovers were even at 21 and seven, respectively. Shamet led all first-half scorers with 14 points, while Nolan Traore had 11 for the villains. No points for KAT yet, and don’t look now, but Bridges was having another bad shooting night.
The third quarter brought more of the same. Bridges missed again (1-of-7 thus far), but he wasn’t alone. Brunson missed a long shot, and Day’Ron Sharpe and Traore blocked Towns and Brunson, respectively. With the offense a pasty, anemic color, Mike Brown sent in Jordan Clarkson (7 PTS, 11 MIN, +17) at around the 8:45 mark. Clarkson guarded Porter tenaciously and made a contested shot despite being hacked (no whistle), but he got dinged for two quick personal fouls and picked up a tech for complaining about that absent whistle. It’s a bummer, because the fouls got him a quick hook just when some of us were starting to wonder if he, Shamet, or Towns might resurrect this lifeless game.
Meanwhile, Towns was taking the ball straight down the painted boulevard on repeated drives. He collected his first nine points of the night, going 3-of-4 from the field and 2-of-3 at the line. After two driving layups, he buried a three off Brunson’s dime at 5:58. During that stretch, Cap added five points on two buckets and a free throw, but missed a three and had a layup blocked.
(For those watching the third quarter at home, Clyde dropped a “Posting and Toasting” at the 7:42 mark AND at 6:30. We hear you, GOAT!)
Mikel Brown scored on consecutive drives down Broadway, and a flummoxed Mike Brown called an exasperated timeout around 4:30. Those hoops cut Brooklyn’s deficit to five. Porter hit from deep after the timeout to make it two, and Mo Wagner swished a triple for a one-point lead. When Porter dropped another bomb, that made 13 straight points for the bad guys. Whatever Mike said in the timeout didn’t motivate.
Diawara was back in the game, but Shamet was the one whose three-pointer gave us some hope for salvation (which the misses by Drummond and Brunson that bookended his shot did not). Another bomb by Shamet on an inbounds play gave him a season high and narrowed the gap with a minute left. But Randle made shots at the stripe, Anunoby and Brunson were both blocked on drives, and Brooklyn’s 19–6 run gave them a 79–75 lead at the break.
Needing a spark, it was another bench player to the rescue. Tyler Kolek checked in to start the fourth quarter and hit the ground running. He dished to Hart for a triple, then Hart found a trailing Anunoby for another bomb, and the game took a more favorable turn. The crowd rejoiced when OG swished another three, and although Randle bucketed on a drive, Hart returned the favor to Kolek by finding him wide-open under the rim.
Brooklyn’s coach Jordi Fernández needed a timeout to get his young troops back in line. Out of the break, Randle coughed up the ball twice and Hart made good on a fast-break layup. When Clarkson hit from the corner, he capped a 16-2 run and goosed the lead to 10. Randle blew a layup and Fernández yanked him with seven minutes left, and Mike Brown swapped Kolek for Brunson. The Nets had scored just five points by the five-minute mark, and New York had stretched their advantage to 12.
The Knicks’ energized defense had forced six turnovers (and counting), while Bridges continued to sit after getting pulled with 8:44 left in the third quarter. With three minutes left, Mike Brown sent in all his starters—except Bridges, electing instead to ride with Shamet. Fernandez kept his starters in, too, but the outcome was decided. The home team had won the frame 28-11 and that was the ballgame.
Up Next
Chicago will visit on Wednesday, hoping to avenge last week’s loss to New York. Mo’s got a recap in the chamber for you. Rest up, Knickerbockers.
