Nets hang on to beat Knicks in wild finish as Julius Randle has to be held back from refs
If you still think the Knicks are the big-brother basketball franchise in New York City, cut yourself a slice of humble pie. Without three of their best players — Kevin Durant (hamstring), Spencer Dinwiddie (ACL) and Blake Griffin (conditioning) —the Nets made quick work of a Knicks team that is the best the franchise has been in years.
Brooklyn’s 117-112 win over New York on Monday is a reminder the stars aligned on the other side of the Manhattan Bridge, and the Nets didn’t need all of those stars to shine bright in order to secure a rivalry win at home.
Kyrie Irving was electric, and his name has turned into a verb. Knicks rookie Immanuel Quickley got “Kyried” when Irving crossed over then spun-off him for a high degree-of-difficulty jump shot he made look easy. The All-Star guard did it all night, finishing at the rim, in the mid-range or from deep for 34 points with only five misses on the night.
If the Knicks were going to have their best chance at winning on Monday, they needed to go into little brother mode. Even though Julius Randle made his first All-Star appearance this season, the Knicks don’t have the talent to go toe-to-toe with Irving and Harden in an all-out shootout. The Knicks needed to defend for 48 minutes, get timely baskets, and stay within arm’s reach, not letting the game get out of control.
The Nets ran their lead up as high as 18 points in the second quarter, with the Knicks unable to stop Irving or Jeff Green, who scored 14 of his 20 points in the first quarter alone. The Knicks, though, stuck with it and chipped away at the lead, ultimately cutting it down to just a four-point game in the fourth quarter. They cut the deficit down as low as three with 7.7 seconds to go in the fourth quarter when the Knicks won a jump ball, which eventually led to a breakaway dunk for Julius Randle.
But it was Randle who was called for a travel on the very next possession: As he went up for a three that could have tied the game, Irving closed out and forced Randle to put the ball back on the ground. After the buzzer, Randle had to be restrained from approaching the referees who made the call and knocked chairs over on his way to the locker room.
Randle scored 31 points, Quickley got the start and finished with 21, Steve Nash’s godson RJ Barrett scored 23, and veteran forward Reggie Bullock made it rain with five made threes to the tune of 19 points.
That’s the thing about being the little brother: Sometimes you give it your all, and it’s still not enough.
Irving’s 34 points were equal parts dazzling and demoralizing to a defense unable to to do anything to stop him. James Harden recorded his 10th triple double since joining the Nets, finishing with 21 points, 15 points and 15 rebounds despite a poor 6-of-15 shooting night. Despite the hot start, Green cooled off and finished with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Joe Harris also hit a triplet of threes for his 13 points on the night.
The Nets are a half-game behind the 76ers for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks have fallen down to 20-20 but remain the East’s seventh seed.
