Nets Could Take Advantage of Struggling Knicks in Rivalry Match

The Brooklyn Nets aren't in a desperate need to gun for wins right now at 12-29. They're 13th in the Eastern Conference, with the fifth-best odds at the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. However, tonight's game means a little more for Brooklyn for a variety of reasons.

The New York Knicks will host the Nets tonight at Madison Square Garden, 7:30 p.m. ET, in their third meeting of the season. Brooklyn dropped the previous two by an average of 24.5 points, one at Barclays Center and one at MSG.

The Knicks-Nets rivalry, although not nearly as potent as some of the other great NBA duels, means something for many in New York City.

Brooklyn, who admittedly has been tabbed as the 'little brother' to a team that has been in the same city since 1946, took pride in beating up on the Knicks nine straight times from 2021 to 2023. The team's last win against New York came on Jan. 28, 2023, at the very end of the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving era.

But tonight could bring the Nets their first win against the Knicks in nearly three years due to the home team's lack of winning as of late. New York is in the midst of its worst stretch of the season, having gone 2-9 in its last 11 games, most recently suffering a brutal 114-97 home-court beatdown to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

The loss resulted in Jalen Brunson calling a players-only meeting to sort things out, per ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne. Since Dec. 31, the start of the Knicks' woes, they've ranked 25th in offensive rating and 28th in defensive rating, giving up 116.4 points per game while scoring just 109.4.

Lately, there seems to be a lack of cohesion between Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and the rest of the team. They've lacked any sort of rhythm and ball movement, and have gone cold from beyond the arc (34.7% from three since Dec. 31).

What's more is that the defense has completely sputtered; New York has given up an alarmingly high number of points in the paint this season (45.3). It's resulted in trade rumors surrounding Towns, who only arrived to the city right before the start of last season.

So the Nets have a good shot to beat the Knicks and continue what has been the worst stretch of the Brunson era. Losing to their crosstown rival would certainly be the icing on the cake, and Brooklyn would not only take pride in beating New York but doing so with its young core.