New York Knicks beat the Brooklyn Nets 93-92: Averting disaster

The New York Knicks barely squeaked out a victory against the Brooklyn Nets, winning 93-92 to extend their winning streak to five games. The Knicks finally played some defense to start the game, but their offense was putrid in exchange. The Nets played physical ball-denial defense, which slowed New York’s scoring to a crawl with just 14 points in the first quarter.

The physicality and chippiness led to two altercations: first, Mitchell Robinson with half the Nets team, and then OG Anunoby shoved Nicolas Claxton. Each scrap galvanized the team as they went from down 12 points to up by 14 during the middle quarters. But it wasn’t over.

The Knicks rested on their laurels and fell asleep again. They gave up a 17-0 run in the fourth quarter, until Karl-Anthony Towns made plays and Captain Clutch got just enough scoring to win, despite missing three free throws combined in the final 10 seconds.

Karl-Anthony Towns was hands-down the Player of the Game for New York. He didn’t just lead New York in scoring; he entered the game during scoring droughts and immediately sparked the offense. KAT powered through the Nets’ contact and scored or drew

Towns made clutch baskets, too, though his lone two missed free throws came right at the end of the game. The Knicks held on to win, and Towns’ scoring and rebounding were the main causes.

After missing the Indiana game, Jalen Brunson came back and struggled shooting against the Nets. This was a rare occasion when Brunson couldn’t score at will to stop the Knicks’ cold streaks. But when the team needed buckets in crunch time, he made a pair of baskets and one out of two free throws.

It warrants emphasis that Brunson had another eight-assist game, despite most players struggling with their shots. The Captain saw a lot of doubles and struggled with his shot, but still made positive impacts with his passing. He wasn’t at his best, but New York needed all 41 of his minutes to win.

I’m still waiting for Mikal Bridges to snap out of his slump, but there were a few promising signs in this performance. He started the game driving into contact and through the rim instead of looking for fadeaways. While Bridges was picky about his shots, he hit his shots at a decent clip.

Mikal’s defense held up well. He defended the final shot of the game, and despite his lack of recorded steals or blocks, his on-ball pressure helped create some turnovers.

OG Anunoby got off to a pedestrian start. But after his dust-up with Nicolas Claxton, Anunoby got aggressive. He dunked the ball three times in the quarter, posterizing Danny Wolf repeatedly.

OG spent the other quarters missing shots and struggling with turnovers on drives. So, the Knicks may have lucked out that Nicolas Claxton temporarily brought out Anunoby’s angry side.

Most of the Knicks struggled with Brooklyn’s physical defense, meandering through contact and turning the ball over. Not the rookie, Mohamed Diawara. Diawara’s drive-and-kick game generated five assists, and some hockey assists to boot. He got to the rim when most of the vets around him struggled.

I love that Mike Brown trusted Diawara in the closing minutes of this game.

The Nets threw bodies at Mitchell Robinson, bumping and prodding at him all night. The contact culminated in Mitch getting fouled on a fast break and getting in the face of nearly every Net on the floor. The Knicks were down 12 when that happened, and immediately snapped into gear after.

Robinson didn’t let the physicality throw him off. He grabbed boards and disrupted Brooklyn’s offense all game. If Mitch shot better from the free-throw line, this would have been a near-perfect performance for him.

That’s a win that’ll leave a sour taste, but it’s still a win. The Knicks’ hot-and-cold nature has been a worrisome trait that’s lasted too long to ignore. They get away with it against bad teams, but it’s gotten them blown out by the teams they’ll likely see on a playoff run.

I don’t think anyone can truly be comfortable assuming they’ll turn it up when the postseason begins. I blamed their lack of intensity on the extended road trip, but that excuse has run its course. They have to find their consistency, especially on their three-point shots, ASAP!

I’ll see you next time, Knicks’ fam!