Knicks Give Nets a Scare But Brooklyn Rolls at End, 110-98

Maybe the Knicks should have tried harder to sign 31-year-old with torn achilles Kevin Durant after all. He devoured the Knicks again — scoring at will at the end of the game, to lead Brooklyn from 21 behind in the 3rd quarter to take the game in the final 3 minutes and end up with the 12-point win. Kyrie Irving, Patty Mills, and Seth Curry were big too — hitting 3 after 3 in the 4th — as was the Nets defense, which limited NY to 31 points in the 2nd half.

1. Barrett “Bad Reads” in 2nd Half

RJ Barrett had a great 1st half, as did the Knicks team.

But in the 2nd, Barrett kept going to the hole and getting denied — the Nets defense keying on his drives. In his own words, he didn’t make good reads in the 2nd half. The result — a 7-27 shooting evening, including 2-11 from 3 — for 23 points but on High Volume shooting.

2. Toppin Terrific

A highlight for the Knicks was Obi Toppin, who was one of the few Knicks making big buckets in the 4th quarter to keep the Knicks holding the Nets at bay until the Nets came on strong the last 3 minutes.

Toppin had 19 points on an efficient 7-13 shooting (2-4 from 3) in 43 minutes.

3. Knicks Looked Great in 1st Half

It was a tale of 2 halves for the Knicks. In the first half, they played tenacious defense and passed the ball relentlessly, getting many easy shots and blowing past the Nets for a 17-point halftime lead.

But they came out in the 3rd quarter without the same tenacity — instead they were hesitant, as if they were trying to protect the lead. In hte last 3 minutes of the 3rd, the Nets’ Kevin Durant hit two 3’s and two free throws and just like that a 16-point Knick lead was cut to 10. That urned the momentum and you knew the Knicks were in trouble heading into the 4th.

4. Knicks Couldn’t Close the 4th

At the very start of the 4th, Patty Mills hit a 3, Kyrie Irving a deuce, and Mills another 3 sandwiching Immanuel Quickley free throws and it was a 3-point game. Durant dunked off an Alec Burks turnover and it was a 1-point Knicks lead. Kessler Edwards tipped in a shot for a Nets lead. Quickley fed Obi Toppin for a dunk.

The game went back and forth — Quickley and Toppin giving the Knicks will power.

But then Durant made 3 straight 13- to 18-foot jumpers to put the Nets up 98-96 with 4:15 left.

Kyrie Irving hit a huge 3 to give the Nets a 5-pt lead with 2:48 left, followed by a huge 3 by Seth Curry with 1:48 left for an 8-pt Nets lead and the old ballgame.

Etcetera

Jericho Sims had a strong game with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Mitchell Robinson was out with a minor injury. Julius Randle too, is out for the remainder of the year with the minor leg injury.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401361010

 

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