Brooklyn's Nine-est: Knicks Drop Another to Nets, Done In By Triples
It was, in ironically macabre fashion, long distances that sank the New York Knicks in a short road trip on Saturday evening.
The latest battle of basketball boroughs bowed to the Brooklyn Nets, who sank 22 three-pointers in a 122-115 victory over Manhattan's Knicks at Barclays Center. Brooklyn has now won each of the last nine get-togethers, extending its longest advantage in the rivalry since an 11-game streak between 1984 and 1986. The Knicks have yet to beat the Nets since Tom Thibodeau took the top coaching job in 2020.
Kyrie Irving antics paved the way to victory for the Nets: the Brooklyn star was one of four Brooklyn representatives to sink at least three triples and he tallied 21 of his game-best 32 points in a fourth quarter that saw the home team stave off several late Knick rallies. Irving has now reached 30 points in six consecutive games, becoming the first Net to do so in the team's NBA history and joining ABA representatives Rick Barry and Julius Erving.
New York (27-24) gave up at least 20 three-pointers for the fourth time this season and has dropped each of those contests. Their only advantage on Saturday was a brief 1-0 lead after a Julius Randle free throw. In grim foreshadowing, that score was erased when Royce O'Neale put in Brooklyn's first triple of the night.
Made redundant by the Nets' assault from deep was the Knicks' dominant interior efforts, ones that beat out Brooklyn 14-9 on the offensive glass and dominated the points in the paint at a doubling of 68-34.
But the Nets' prowess from deep was enough to bury the Knicks, the outside shooting helping them build a lead that reached as high as 19 before several New York flurries helped them inch their way back in. RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were the only Knicks capable of stopping Brooklyn's deluge, uniited for seven triples. Jalen Brunson paced the Knicks with 26 points but missed both of his attempts from deep while another double-double wasn't enough to save Julius Randle from struggles of his own, as his 19-point, 10-rebound output (two assists short of a triple-double). The Knicks' proudest run came on a 24-12 run to end the third, one that lowered the gap to seven and set up a thrilling final frame.
Isaiah Hartenstein's short shot kept the run alive briefly but the Nets (30-19) ran away with the game wiith a 16-7 burst that built the foundation for their final push. Already renowned for his fourth quarter scoring, Irving fulfilled that prophecy and then some, helping build the lead and keep it his late work. That negated an otherwise sterling quarter for the Knicks, who shot 64 percent from the field (Brunson and Randle alone went 6-for-7). That, of course, was negated by the Knicks' own issues from deep (1-of-7 over the final 12) final insults from the Nets: O'Neale and Joe Harris both sank four each while Seth Curry gave Brooklyn a permanent two-possession lead with 2:45 remaining.
Brooklyn will now visit Madison Square Garden twice, the first of those meetings slated for Feb. 13.
In the meantime, the Knicks will face the Los Angeles Lakers in Manhattan on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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