D Train: Knicks Defense Buries Brooklyn in Road Trip Finale
There's no place like home ... even if you're on the road.
The New York Knicks returned to Gotham in style on Wednesday night, capping off what's tied for their longest road trip of the season with a 121-102 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.
A wire-to-wire victory over their cross-borough rivals allowed the Knicks (16-11) to move back to a season-best five games over .500 and end a five-game road trip with a winning mark (3-2). They also ended a six-game losing streak at Barclays Center, where they have gone nearly four calendar years without a win (its last coming on Dec. 26, 2019).
Julius Randle put in 26 in the win while Donte DiVincenzo hit 23 on 9-of-15 shooting. Immanuel Quickley had 19 points in relief (a total primarily built on 4-of-6 from three-point range) while Josh Hart had a 13-rebound, 10-point double-double.
Brad Penner, USA TODAY SPORTS
Manhattan's Knicks had the advantage from the get-go, leaping out to a 16-5 lead as Brooklyn missed 11 of its first 13 tries from the field. The Nets threatened to creep back in at several points but never got any closer than four in the first half. Though Brooklyn had a few more mini-runs in, the Knicks more or less set the tone for the rest of the game with an 11-0 run to open the second half. Another 14-0 run between the last stages of the third and the opening of the fourth quarter sealed Brooklyn's fate and allowed the Knicks to more or less coast the rest of the way.
Though offensive endeavors took center stage, the travel-weary Knicks will likely value their defensive performance the most: despite missing both Mitchell Robinson and Jericho Sims in the interior, the Knicks outrebounded Brooklyn and forced it into a dreary shooting night, limiting them to 36 percent shooting and forcing 11 turnovers. Nets star Mikal Bridges, facing his fellow former Villanova Wildcats Brunson and DiVincenzo, shot a brutal 4-of-21 from the field.
Isaiah Hartenstein, in the starting five for the first time this season in place of Robinson and Sims, briefly left the game after he was hit in the mouth but pulled in 10 of the Knicks' 54 rebounds in the win. DiVincenzo had eight of his own from the backcourt, best on Brooklyn only by Day'Ron Sharpe (15).
As for Wednesday's hosts, the Nets (13-14) have now dropped five of six and continue to sink down the early Eastern leaderboard. Dual 20-point performances for Cam Thomas and Cameron Johnson weren't enough to keep Brooklyn in the game, and their next chance for revenge lands on Jan. 23 when the Knicks come back to Barclays.
The Knicks will finally be back at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon, as the first half of a formidable Christmas weekend doubleheader against the Milwaukee Bucks will be there to welcome them (12:30 p.m. ET, MSG/NBA TV).
