Knicks hold off pesky Nets after seesaw battle for back-to-back wins
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns scores a basket past Nets guard Keon Johnson and center Nic Claxton in the second half of an NBA game at Barclays Center on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
It was a chance for Mikal Bridges to have his night, his first time back in Brooklyn since the trade over the summer that sent him from the Nets to the Knicks. And at times it seemed as if his teammates wanted to make it a party for him as they sought him out on offense.
But it was also one of those nights when Bridges didn’t have it going and shots that he normally makes clanked off the rim, Passes slipped just out of reach for him on fast breaks and he struggled through a scoreless second half.
Yet it was a perfect distillation of why Bridges was happy to make the move from Brooklyn, where he was the No. 1 option, to the Knicks, where he is just one of five talented starters. As he searched for his shot, it was Karl-Anthony Towns who emerged for much of the night with a late push from Jalen Brunson to lead the Knicks to a 99-95 win over the Nets at Barclays Center on Tuesday night.
Towns led the Knicks with 25 points and 16 rebounds, plus six assists. Brunson had 17 points (eight in the fourth quarter) and OG Anunoby had 20 points, while Josh Hart filled the boxscore with seven points, nine assists and 12 rebounds.
Bridges had 10 points and that was just fine as the Knicks sweated out a harder than it should have been victory.
“He did exactly what the ‘Cap’ does, put the cape on,” Towns said about Brunson. “We know how special he is. He lives for those moments. You’re always in shock. As a fan, you love the basketball he plays, especially when the game is on the line.
“We could sit here and talk about ‘Cap’ all day, how special he is, but he consistently shows the world why he’s one of the best in the world.”
“I just stayed mentally strong,” Brunson said. “I had a rough shooting night, and I knew I couldn’t be frustrated in a time like that. You’ve just got to be more focused and the ball fell through the hoop last couple times.”
The Knicks needed someone to salvage this night because they seemed to be doing everything they could to throw the game away.
At one point early in the second half, the Nets grabbed seven offensive rebounds in just over three minutes as the Knicks were repeatedly caught flat-footed. It wasn’t one they will brag about, but the win gave the Knicks back-to-back wins for the first time since New Year’s Day.
“We were in mud,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “But I think our defense was really good and we found a way to win the game. You’ve got to win games different ways. Just find a way to win.
“OG was terrific. Josh Hart terrific. Mikal terrific. KAT and Jalen got going at the end. Timely plays. And so just find a way to win. That’s the bottom line.”
The Knicks missed layups, turned the ball over and were outworked much of the night by a Nets squad that followed coach Jordi Fernandez’s demands to play hard.
The Knicks led by as many as 13 after taking the lead in the opening minute of the second quarter. But the Nets made a run in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 87-85 with 6:03 remaining.
It prompted a Knicks timeout to try to halt the 10-2 run.
Out of the timeout, Towns missed on a driving layup and Keon Johnson buried a three-pointer to give the Nets an 88-87 lead.
After missing 11 of their first 12 shots in the fourth quarter with four turnovers, Towns connected on a jump hook with 2:59 remaining to push the Knicks back in front.
The Nets moved right back in front on a pair of free throws by D’Angelo Russell, and Brunson countered with a baseline jumper. When Nic Claxton missed a drive to the hoop, Hart started a break, finding Brunson ahead of the field for a 93-90 lead.
After the Nets closed to within one again, Brunson connected on a jumper in the lane and then ran down an errant shot by Russell, starting a break that ended in an Anunoby dunk with 57.8 seconds left for a five-point lead.
Russell buried a three out of a timeout with 52 seconds left and the Knicks were again left to try to hang on. Brunson had the ball deflected out of bounds and when they struggled to get the ball inbounds, they called a timeout with 36.4 seconds remaining.
Brunson rimmed out a floater on a pretty feed from Towns and Brooklyn had the ball and a timeout with 23 seconds left to try to take this one over.
But Cam Johnson missed on a three-pointer and Hart soared through a crowd of players to grab the rebound, calling timeout before stepping out of bounds with 12 seconds left.
Brunson then went to the line with seven seconds left and drained both free throws for a four-point lead.
Russell had 23 points and 10 assists for the Nets, and Cam Johnson scored 16 points.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
