Other than some big rebounds from Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart near the paint, the Knicks' performance on Tuesday wasn't all that impressive.
They slumped, their offense inexplicably disappearing for most of the fourth quarter, and Brooklyn was one shot away from its worst loss of the season.
But in the end, the Knicks didn't need style to defeat the underdog Nets, and one night in the NBA, when the final buzzer sounded and the better team breathed a huge sigh of relief, the score was 99-95. Victory is complete.
“These games are a good test to see how really close this team is,” Towns said. “I'm proud of us.”
Towns had 25 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists, but it's worth noting that he couldn't make a 3-point shot because of an injured shooter's thumb.
The Knicks (29-16), who had won their second straight after Monday's win over the Hawks, led comfortably for much of the game before faltering early in the fourth quarter and the Nets took a one-point advantage. I forgave it. 2:35 left.
Jalen Brunson followed with three consecutive buckets, but missed the winning running layup with 31 seconds left.
Manager Tom Thibodeau believed the foul was legal, which he made clear in his postgame interview, but no call was made.
“What's going on? [Brunson] That’s ridiculous,” Thibodeau said. “I really do. I'll leave it at that.”
The failure left Brooklyn's Cam Johnson with what could have been the game-winning shot, but his open 3-point shot with 12 seconds left bounced off the back of the rim.
Hart surged for the rebound, a timeout was called, and Brunson, who had just 17 points in 39 minutes, made the free throw to seal the victory.
“I didn't communicate with Precious on the key.” [Achiuwa] And it was like opening up Cam Johnson,” Hart said. “And Precious did a great job of recovering and getting into the contest. I saw the way he shot it and thought it was going to be long and said, 'I'm just going to grab it.' Go get the ball. ” ”
Hart certainly got the ball.
“Being 7 feet tall and in a lot of traffic, he came up with it,” Thibodeau said. “Big play. Obviously that's probably the most important time of the game.”
As for Tuesday's most compelling personal stories, Mikal Bridges' return to Barclays Center was uneventful and, like his career with the Nets, mostly disappointing.
There was no video tribute to the former face of the franchise, although it was very brief. Instead, the Nets played a long highlight montage of Vince Carter, who will retire his jersey Saturday for his tenure with the New Jersey Nets. The crowd favored the Knicks, but remained silent until the dramatic final moments.
Bridges, who was traded to the Knicks from the Nets for five first-round draft picks, was scoreless in the second half and finished with just 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting in 34 minutes.
The Nets (14-30) are now the epitome of tanking.
The only meaningful game for them this season is Capture the (Cooper) Flag.
They traded Bridges, the team's best player, before the season for draft capital and a useless player. They were playing so well early in the season that they gave away two starters as pieces in the tank.
Still, they were good enough to scare the Knicks.
And the Knicks survived. They are currently 11-0 against the Nets, Wizards, Hornets and Raptors, the four worst teams in the East.
“We're still thinking about it,” Hart said. “We've grown a little bit as a team and as a person. So we had to understand that. We know that. But obviously we'd rather do it with wins than losses. I think so.”
