The Knicks didn’t look like a team that was going to finally secure home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and instead looked like a team that was on the road for eight days and gassed up late in the back-to-back.
But, as they have done all season, the Knicks came back from a big hole in the first half and dominated the eliminated Nets in the second half, winning 111-107 and falling just short of the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. He won an incredible victory. .
Tom Thibodeau’s team (49-32) still has a chance to take over second place in the East with a win over the Bulls on Sunday and a loss to the Bucks in their final two games.
A win in Sunday’s final regular-season game would clinch the No. 3 seed, but a loss could drop them to the No. 4 seed in a three-way tiebreaker scenario with the Bucks and Cavaliers. .
Jalen Brunson overcame a sluggish first half to score a team-high 30 points, including two game-clinching free throws with 4.1 seconds left after a hard foul by Cam Thomas.
OG Anunoby scored all 15 of his points after halftime for the Knicks, who swept their four-game season series against their Brooklyn-based rivals.
Mitchell Robinson also sank 5 of 8 free throws late in the game, thwarting the Nets’ late-game “hack-a-mitch” strategy.
to the Knicks on Friday. charles wenzelberg
The Knicks, who outscored Brooklyn 30-13 in the third after trailing by 17 points in the second quarter, have played in 22 games since acquiring Anunoby in a deal that released RJ Barrett and Immanuel in late December. They improved to an astonishing record of 19 wins and 3 losses. Quickley to the Raptors.
