The Knicks were up by 21 points late in the 3rd quarter, and entered the 4th up by 18 — but the NBA refs seemingly called a foul on NY every time Brooklyn took the ball to the hoop in the 4th, while Jalen Brunson kept getting Hammered with no call — and the Nets came back to take the lead on a Dennis Schroder 3 with 6 seconds left.
Thankfully for the Knicks, Jalen Brunson responded with a 3 from the corner with 6 seconds left to put NY up 2, and Mikal Bridges blocked a drive by Schroder to end it — final score NY 124 Brooklyn 122 on a Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
NY won despite being without Karl-Anthony Towns, out day-to-day after banging his knee the game before, and still being without Precious Achiuwa and Mitchell Robinson — meaning NY only had their 3rd and 4th backup centers in Jericho Sims and rookie Ariel Hukporti.
NY survived an offensive explosion by Cam Thomas, who scored 46 pts on 16-22 shooting (7-10 from 3), and the NBA refs, who constantly put Thomas, Cameron Johnson (10-10 in free throws), and other Nets to the line in the 4th. They say if the Refs are doing their job you should not know their name. The refs for this game were John Conley, Courtney Kirkland, and Gediminas Petraitis.
Jalen Brunson led NY with 37 pts on 12-20 shooting.
The game was designated an In-Season Tournament game — and it almost seemed like the refs wanted it to be a close game for that reason.
“I See What’s Going On” — Thibs
“We’ve been a low-foul team for a long time now. And all of a sudden.. like?”” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “I see what’s going on and I don’t like it. The physicality that’s being displayed on Jalen when he’s bringing the ball up the floor with the grab, the hold, all that stuff, and then to turn around.. I don’t care how they call it — they can call it tight, they can call it loose — I don’t care how they call it, but they have to call it the same for both teams.”
“We can’t control what happens,” said Brunson afterwards, alluding to the calls. “We have to stick together.”
NY improves to 6-6. Brooklyn falls to 5-8.
1. Knicks Take Command Early Despite No Towns
NY was without Karl-Anthony Towns, who dressed to play but was held out at the last minute because his knee still felt sore. Towns banged knees near the end of the prior game against Chicago.
Despite no Towns, the Knicks took control of the game from the start, jumping out to an 8-2 lead on scoring by OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Jalen Brunson. Jericho Sims started at center, and Ariel Hukporti relieved him midway through the period.
rook’s first points 👏
HUUUUUKPORTI! pic.twitter.com/nXi6XyL37U
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 16, 2024
The Nets and Cam Thomas pushed back to take the lead, but NY’s balanced attack, crisp passing, and especially the scoring of OG Anunoby put NY back on top by 5 at the end of the 1st quarter.
2. NY Up by 9 at Half
Cameron Payne sparked the Knicks again in the middle of the 2nd quarter, and NY pushed their lead to 10 on the scoring of OG Anunoby, Brunson, and Mikal Bridges.
OG getting what he wants at the rim 🫡 pic.twitter.com/MLFmW5m7L9
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 16, 2024
NY was up by 13 with seconds left in the half when Cam Thomas made 2 free throws, then intercepted a Brunson pass for a score to pull Brooklyn within 9. OG Anunoby got of a 3 at the buzzer but just missed.
3. NY Up by 18 After 3 Quarters
NY pushed their lead from the 10-pt range to the teens in the 3rd quarter led by the scoring of Anunoby, Bridges, and Brunson.
AND ONEEEEE @jalenbrunson1‼️ pic.twitter.com/17Txfu2ajZ
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 16, 2024
When Cameron Payne and Bridges hit back-to-back 3’s the Knicks were up by 21 at 98-77 with 1:17 left in the 3rd.
MIKAL BRIDG3S 🤑 pic.twitter.com/kbm1NYR9eG
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 16, 2024
4. Brooklyn Pressure, Thomas & NBA Refs in 4th
NY led by 18 entering the 4th, when Brooklyn started to apply a pressure defense, hounding Brunson with Ben Simmons or the 6’6 Jalen Wilson, and double teams. Brunson was getting pounded on drives to the basket with no calls.
Brooklyn started the quarter with 3’s by Cam Thomas, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Ziaire Williams that pulled them to within 13 points.
Cam Payne hit some big shots for NY but Brooklyn kept slicing the lead as they started getting call after call on their drives to the basket — and Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith kept going to the line.
Brooklyn continued to play a very physical game with few fouls called, while the Knicks were getting ticky-tack calls against them.
Most egregious was a play with 6 minutes left when OG Anunoby ripped down a defensive rebound, but Finney-Smith — all over him — stripped the ball from his hands then toppled on top of him — and OG Anunoby was called for the foul!!!!
Dorian-Finney made both free throws to pull Brooklyn to within 109-103.
On another play with a minute left and NY up 4, the ball went out of bounds off the fingertips of Ben Simmons, but refs reviewed and said it didn’t. Brooklyn maintained possession.
The Nets finally pulled to within 2, then took the lead on a Dennis Schroder 3 with 12 seconds left.
Out of a timeout, NY got the ball to Brunson who hit a CLUTCH, DAGGER 3 from the left baseline with 6 seconds left — Brooklyn immediately going the other way for a Schroder drive for a tie — but Mikal Bridges blocked the shot for the old ballgame!
JALEN BRUNSON FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/l9dniBXq6t
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) November 16, 2024
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