Knicks in Mud, SQUEAK Past Nets. NY 99 Brooklyn 95

Jalen Brunson had only 17 points, but scored 3 straight key buckets in the final minutes. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

The Knicks were on the verge of blowing out the Nets all night, but shots kept rimming out and the Nets kept getting calls — keeping them in the game.

Still NY entered the 4th quarter up by 10 points when things escalated — NY entered a twilight zone of balls rimming out and serendipity (and ref calls) favoring the Nets — the Knicks scored only 3 points the first 9 minutes of the quarter as Brooklyn took a lead.

Finally, in the last 3 minutes, the Knicks woke up — Karl-Anthony Towns hitting a big hook shot to put NY back on top, Jalen Brunson hitting 3 straight drive/pullups, OG Anunoby dunking off a Josh Hart feed, and the Knick defense shutting down the Nets to secure the win — Hart ripping down key rebounds throughout.

Final score New York 99 Brooklyn 95 on a COLD Tuesday night in Brooklyn — 15 degrees outside going down to 8 degrees. A nationally televised game on TNT — marketed as part of their “Rivals” showcase.

This was the second night of a back-to-back for the Knicks.

“We were in mud, but I think our defense was really good, and we found a way to win the game,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “You gotta win games different ways; just find a way to win. We got timely stops; some big-time hustle plays; OG was terrific; Josh Hart terrific; Mikal terrific; KAT and Jalen got going at the end; timely plays; just find a way to win that’s the bottom line.”

On the officiating, Thibs said “I don’t know what the discrepancy in the free throws was, but it was big. It was big. And we’re attacking the basket. I’m watching KAT go; I’m watching Jalen go; there was contact. There was contact. A foul is a foul. A guy is fouled you gotta call it; it’s your job.”

Brooklyn finished 19-25 from the free throw line; the Knicks were 11-14.

NY improves to 29-16; Brooklyn falls to 14-30.

1. Undermanned Nets Play Scrappy

Brooklyn has the 6th worst record in the NBA, and own their own 1st-round pick this June, having re-acquired it from Houston last June. They have a number of players out — Cam Thomas, Bojan Bogdanovic, Ben Simmons, Trendon Watford (their 6’8 reserve power forward averaging 8.3 ppg), and Ziaire Williams (a 6’9 power forward averaging 9.6 ppg).

Still they played a scrappy brand of basketball — coached by Jordi Fernandez from Spain, who started his coaching career in Spain and then started his NBA coaching career as an assistant coach with Cleveland in 2009. Fernandez also coaches the Canadian National team.

Brooklyn re-acquired D’Angelo Russell a month ago to lead this team, and lead them he did on this night, with 23 points and 10 assists as the primary ball handler and orchestrator.

NY jumped out to a 10-2 lead but the pesky Nets came back to lead 26-24 after 1 quarter.

2. Knicks Take Command in 2nd Quarter

The Knicks’ 2nd team came out and helped NY take control of the game to start the 2nd quarter. Towns started the period with a drive inside, Miles McBride hit a 3, Precious Achiuwa hit a 3 and a Dunk off a Cameron Payne assist and NY was up 34-28.

McBride followed with a pullup, and then Karl-Anthony Towns continued to power inside for drives and NY was up by 10.

The Nets continued to play a pesky brand of basketball — but also were prone to turnovers as the veteran Knicks attacked and got into the open floor. The Nets also kept missing 3’s.

3. Towns No Problem with Claxton

Karl-Anthony Towns continued to get what he wanted all night with inside drives against Nic Claxton. Towns finished with 25 points on 11-19 shooting, with 16 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, and a +16  — despite playing with a thumb that is still taped up after being sprained 3 games ago.

Claxton had 8 points with 12 rebounds but no blocked shots in 34 minutes and a – 19.

4. Anunoby a Strong Presence

OG Anunoby was coming off a tremendous defensive game the night before, when he played 42 minutes — and laid down another tremendous defensive game — and also scored 20 points on 8-18 shooting (2-6 from 3), with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and a block.

5. NY Enters 4th Quarter Up 9

NY entered the 4th quarter up by 9 points and seemed on the verge of blowing out the Nets at any moment — but it never happened. The two teams played as if they were in mud — the Nets kept missing 3’s, the ball kept rimming in and out for the Knicks, and serendipity and ref calls kept favoring the Nets.

NY played excellent defense only to see the ball bound out to the Nets on multiple occasions for 2nd tries.

On top of it the Nets kept getting calls — the refs seemingly trying to keep the Nationally televised game close. Brooklyn was 12-18 in free throws thru 3 quarters while the Knicks were 8-10. The discrepancy stayed that way thru the 4th quarter — Brooklyn finished the game 19-25 from the free throw line; the Knicks were 11-14.

As the quarter continued there seemed to be a lid on the basket for the Knicks, balls rimming out multiple times.

The Knicks had an 87-80 lead but then were stuck on 87 for almost 5 full minutes. Meanwhile the Nets came back and took the lead on a Keon Johnson 3 with 5 minutes left. The score stood at 88-87 Nets for several minutes — the Nets missing shots too.

KAT & Brunson Come Thru in Clutch

Finally, Karl-Anthony Towns hit a hook inside for a Knick lead, 89-88 with 3 minutes left, and then Jalen Brunson took it to the rim for 3 consecutive CLUTCH floaters or drives to put NY ahead.

An OG dunk off a Josh Hart pass gave NY a 97-92 lead with 57 seconds left.

Hart Huge Rebounds Down Stretch

D’Angelo Russell hit a clutch 3 to make it a 97-95 game with 52 seconds left — but Cameron Johnson missed a 3 with 15 seconds left and there was Josh Hart again — flying in from the free throw line to rip down the key rebound to secure the win.

“Josh Hart continues to make winning players,” enthused NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “It never matters how many shots he gets, points he has, or plays called for him as his relentless pursuit to win never changes. Also, notice how 50/50 balls become 20/80 balls with Josh or how he beats you on the glass by just wanting it more.”

Brunson made free throws and the Knicks escaped the mud to go out into the 15-degree, snow-covered Brooklyn streets with the win.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705172

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