The Knicks lost to the Nets on Saturday night at the Barclays Center, 122-115.
Here are the key takeaways…
– From the beginning, the Knicks couldn’t stop Brooklyn from making its threes Royce O’Neale drained his first two shots from deep while Kyrie Irving added another — the first of many from him that night.
– After falling down 23-12 with 3:12 left in the first quarter, New York fought back with some three-pointers of their own. Quentin Grimes made a three with 12.1 seconds left and after Julius Randle came up with a last-second steal, Miles McBride heaved up a half-court shot that went in but was called off after it was determined that it came after the clock expired.
– Through the first quarter, the Knicks were down 28-22, finishing the frame on a 10-5 run.
– In the second quarter, both teams were clicking from deep. Patty Mills started the party off with a 26-footer within the first 15 seconds of the quarter. After Nick Claxton made one of two free throws, the next four made shots were from behind the arc.
– Yuta Watanabe made it rain in the second quarter, coming off the bench and draining all three of his three-pointers. Cam Thomas, Joe Harris and O’Neale joined in on the fun as Brooklyn started to pour it on late in the quarter, leading the Knicks by as many as 18 points.
– RJ Barrett did what he could, scoring the team’s final seven points of the quarter and getting his Knicks to within 13 points at 62-49.
– Just as he ended the first half, Barrett began the second half, scoring New York’s first four points and six of the Knicks’ first eight points.
– But every time the Knicks punched back, the Nets would throw down the hammer, nailing three after three. However, New York ended the third quarter on a 7-0 run that cut the deficit to 88-81.
– In the fourth quarter, it was all Irving who scored 21 of his 32 points in the final 12 minutes.
– After seeing their deficit balloon to 14 points, the Knicks buckled down, even with Irving’s incredible play, and cut the lead to just three points after Grimes made a tip shot with just over three minutes remaining.
– That’s the closest New York would make it as it was simply too much Kyrie at the end. Jalen Brunsonwho scored 26 points in his own right, gave the Knicks a glimmer of hope with a driving dunk with seven seconds left that made it a five-point game, but Seth Curry made both of his free throws and the Nets won 122-115.
– Irving had 32 points on 12-of-27 shooting (5-of-12 from three) as Brooklyn went 22-for-40 from beyond the arc. The Knicks, on the other hand, only went 10-for-28 from deep although they did shoot over 51 percent from the field.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks begin a four-game homestand starting on Tuesday, Jan. 31 against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers at 7:30 pm