Knicks Snap Losing Streak With Blowout Win Over Nets

Wow. A 54-point win for the New York Knicks.

The Knicks were able to put away the “little brother” Brooklyn Nets early. The score would end with the Knicks obliterating the Nets 120-66. This win couldn’t have come at a better time. The team has been playing their worse brand of basketball for the last two weeks. So, how were the Knicks able to secure their largest margin of victory in franchise history?

First quarter explosion

The Nets came in with a 12-29 record, which made them 13th in the Eastern Conference. The message was simply to get them out of the way and doing it early. The Knicks had multiple double-digit runs from the jump. With the score at 6-4 with the Nets leading, the Knicks went on a 14-0 run lead by their main guys in Karl Anthony-Towns and Jalen Brunson.

Jan 21, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) looks to drive past Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton (33) in the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Towns scored 7 of the Knicks' first 9 points. In 20 minutes of play, he finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. He played with a purpose of attacking the rim, while getting his teammates good looks. When Towns subbed out, Brunson got it going to finish the quarter with nine of his game-high 20 points. More importantly, though, he took on the emphasis to be a facilitator while competing on the defensive end.

After the first quarter, the Knicks led 38-20 with back-to-back threes from Landry Shamet, who finished the game with 18 points while going 6-6 from the three-point line. After that, it was no turning back for the “blue and orange.”

B2B Landry Shamet threes 3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/TbZaS9JcuE
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 22, 2026

Neutralizing Michael Porter Jr.

The Nets are the second-youngest team in the NBA behind only the Washington Wizards, who are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. That means opportunities have opened up for players to have bigger roles. Currently Michael Porter Jr. is the Nets leading scorer at 25.7 ppg. For the Knicks, the game plan was not to allow their lone scorer to go off.

Jan 21, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. (17) is double teammed by New York Knicks guards Jalen Brunson (11) and Josh Hart (3) in the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

That responsibility was in the hands of Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, as they held Porter Jr. to only 12 points on 4-14 shooting from the field.

Mitchell Robinson also contributed to protecting the rim, which made Nets players think twice about going into the paint and forced them to shoot a lot of three-pointers. The Nets went 11-40 from that area of the floor, which amounted to 28.7 percent. New York's guards in Brunson, Shamet, and McBride took the challenge defensively by fighting over screens and staying in front of their man.

Balanced scoring

Each player on the roster for the Knicks scored outside of Pacome Dadiet, who still played seven minutes. That says everything. Despite the Knicks blowing out a non-competitive Nets team, they made it clear that this was going to be a team win. They accomplished that by going away from the ball-dominant offense led by the scoring machine in Brunson and focusing more on ball movement mixed with pace. The Knicks finished with six players in double-digits.

When players are getting opportunities to not only shoot the ball, but also touch it, this makes them more willing to play defense. The formula of sharing the ball while playing high value defense is a winning one.

The Knicks will head over to Philadelphia on Jan. 24 to take on the 76ers.

Make sure you bookmark Knicks on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!