This shows us that the New York basketball globe is once again properly rotating on its axis. Nets fans inside Barclays Center were begging for a satisfying fourth quarter for the nominal home team.
They kept trying out that slightly creepy “Brook Leeeen” chant. Despite a fourth-quarter lead that went from 9 to 6 to 8 and continued to shrink to zero, they faced the Nets with the love-22 imposed by the Clippers to close out Sunday's game in Los Angeles. I tried to encourage people to forget. From 3 back to 6 and down to 1.
However, it wasn't an issue all night long. Throughout the game, the 17,732 Invaders continued to dominate the Nets defenders. I could regularly hear chants of “M!V!” Pee! ” Every time Jalen Brunson did something reasonably shocking, he had a good chance with 30 points and four assists. There was a random yet powerful appeal: “Let's go KNICKS!”
Then the hammer went off and the amp finally jacked up to 11. There were 68 seconds left in a tied game. Dennis Smith Jr. drove in the lane. Josh Hart raised his hand, probably ignoring it. Precious Achiuwa took another slam, but the ball bounced into the hands of Brooklyn's Cam Johnson. Johnson tried to hit a 6-foot shot past OG Anunoby's fingertips.
Anunoby (four steals, two blocks) denied it. The ball appeared to slide wide of the frame, but Hart flicked it away before it could. Hart found Randle at midcourt. Randle fed Jalen Bruzon and charged toward the basket. Brunson sent a bounce pass to Randle, who completed the dunk.
“Play of the year so far,” Brunson said.
“That's our team,” said Randle (30 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, 7-for-7 from the line). “That's the play that wins the game. The play that wins the game. Those guys are fighting.”
This left the game 103-101, with the Knicks on their way to 108-103 Knicks, filling Barclays Center with a roar and soon making their way to Atlantic Avenue as the Nets fans who were actually there sprinted for the exits. It echoed up to
“That's what's unique about playing for the Knicks,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
It's when the Knicks are playing better, it's when they're the better team, and it's when they're the better team since Anunoby's trade with the world champion Nuggets took place Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. is currently on track with 10 wins and 2 losses. .
Of course, even if the Nets were a star-studded carnival version during the fleeting peak of the KD/Kyrie/Harden experiment, Barclays still has a sizable number of Knicks fans, and Nets fans are He will return the favor. Manhattan Bridge. But this was different. This rivalry switched from Jersey to Brooklyn 11 years ago. It had never sounded like this before.
“The crowd lit up,” Randle said.
And the Nets realized that, believe me. It's enough that they're in an undisputed (but thankfully well-rested) 2-11 abyss since everyone was off that horrible night against the Bucks during Christmas week. That's bad. The Nets wore black uniforms, which still feel strange at NBA arenas for home games.
Except Tuesday night seemed okay. And the Knicks also wore home white.
“When they got away with it, it felt like an away game,” Nets star Mikal Bridges said. Through the first three and a half quarters, he had an impressive 36 points, including seven on three, but he only scored three points during the game. In the fourth quarter, he missed four of his five shots.
Most satisfying for the Knicks was the final score. The Nets played a completely different game than the team coming back from the West Coast, and the Knicks didn't completely get rid of them either. That's because they still had too much possession and were without Isaiah Hartenstein, who was down with an apparent Achilles injury. Even though Achiuwa and Jericho Sims in his place combined for 12 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks (all by Sims).
“I didn't think we played particularly well, but our response in the fourth quarter was good.” [Knicks 32, Nets 18]'' Thibodeau said. “It says a lot about who we are. Winning when you're not at your best is a huge thing.”
Randall said:[Me and Jalen] It will attract a lot of attention. But tonight everyone was fighting. Everyone pitched in tonight. ”
The Knicks will step up a bit in class Thursday. They believe that winning against bad teams, and winning while making the majority of the game look like a bad game, will help ingrain winning habits. You'll find out soon.
