In the rematch, the Knicks easily beat the Nets.
Overcoming Jalen Brunson's day off, the home team was buoyed by the return of Karl-Anthony Towns and rode a strong performance from OG Anunoby to a 114-104 victory over the Nets on Sunday.
The Knicks (7-6) led for the final three quarters and beat the Nets (5-9) for the second time in three days, but they were the first in the division since Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant bolted. There's not much point in bragging about this matchup. The energy, or lack thereof, in the garden on Sunday was indicative of the rivalry of steaming grape juice.
The Knicks were clearly better and showed it with more authority than on Friday, when they demanded the game-winning trey from Brunson in the final seconds.
There was no drama on Sunday.
The Knicks, who had struggled in the fourth quarter all season, held a double-digit lead in the final five minutes.
Brunson shot just 3-of-14 but had 10 assists. Anunoby added 24 points and held Brooklyn's Cam Thomas to just 16 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Towns, who had 26 points and 15 rebounds, returned from one injury and could have suffered another. He took a hard spill late in the third quarter, slipping and tumbling and nearly leveling out before landing on his hip.
Towns entered the final 7:20 of the game in obvious pain.
The Knicks will be without sixth man Miles McBride for the second straight game. He suffered from inflammation associated with hyperextension of his knee early in the season. Mr. McBride was also ill last week.
Without McBride, the Knicks' rotation included a heavy infusion of Cam Payne (nine points in 17 minutes) and rookie Pacham Dadiette (zero points in 10 minutes).
Jericho Sims continued to serve as the backup center and had perhaps his best game with solid defense for 18 minutes, including crunch time.
