Jalen Brunson and the Knicks were a misfiring mess all night, but apparently it’s never too late to get off the struggle bus against the pathetic Nets.
An inexcusable defeat Friday night was only averted because Brooklyn couldn’t generate a potential game-winner at the buzzer — instead mismanaging an out-of-bounds play that left rookie Ben Saraf launching an airball — allowing the Knicks to escape Barclays Center with a 93-92 win that was more shameful than respectable.
“They brought the fight to us. They came out, obviously they wanted to prove a point,” Knicks center Mitchell Robinson said. “Our approach got to be better. We can’t just look at their record and say, ‘We’ll whoop their ass.’ We just got to be better altogether. Until we figure that part out, then it’s going to be a long rollercoaster.”
Brunson, who missed the previous game with a neck strain, scored just 17 points on 7-for-19 shooting overall, including 1-for-6 from beyond the arc. But he finally awoke in crunch time, dropping two of the night’s biggest buckets — a go-ahead pull-up jumper with 2:20 remaining and another one less than a minute later.
He and Karl-Anthony Towns could’ve then put the win away, but they combined to miss three of four free throws in the final 10 seconds.
So the Knicks (46-25) were lucky the Nets, who shot under 40 percent on the night, couldn’t score. And they left with two winning streaks intact — five straight victories overall, and 14 consecutive against the Nets.
But it was ugly.
“Jordi [Fernández, the Nets coach] outcoached me,” Mike Brown said. “They outplayed us in a lot of areas. And we were just able to find a way to get a win.”
For the Knicks, who’ve had problems starting games, Friday night brought another discouraging first quarter. They managed a pitiful 14 points in that opening period and trailed by eight, saved only by Brooklyn’s ineptitude.
On Sunday night, Brown ranted about his team’s lack of focus and energy immediately after tipoff. He was so upset after a nail-biting win over the short-handed Warriors that he stopped the tradition of awarding a defensive player of the game.
But the message didn’t sink in for the crosstown game, and the Knicks seemed shocked by Brooklyn playing harder than usual.
“This is probably the most physical they got with us,” Robinson said. “So you can’t take their record and say, this is an easy one. They’re grown-ass men just like us. They’re in the NBA just like us. So our approach got to be better and more respectful.”
It got feisty in the second quarter, when Robinson, clearly upset with a previous possession, stepped over Brooklyn’s Nolan Traore under the basket. Robinson stood over Traore — a universal basketball sign of disrespect — and Brooklyn’s Danny Wolf stepped in before all parties were separated.
Robinson was given a tech. So was Brooklyn’s Ziaire Williams. Then in the third quarter, OG Anunoby and Nic Claxton were whistled for techs after a shoving exchange.
“You get physical back. That’s how it’s got to be,” Robinson said. “Got to stand on business about that.”
The Nets are operating with a talent deficit and under a front office prioritizing ping-pong balls over victories. Still, the Nets played as if pride were at stake Friday.
Not only are the Knicks the crosstown rivals who entered Friday with a lengthy winning streak in head-to-head matchups, they also punked the Nets in a 54-point victory at the Garden in January.
“The last one when we played at the Garden, it was embarrassing,” Wolf said. “So, it’s just a little bit of added extra motivation. And obviously I would like to say this isn’t how we wanted the season to go in terms of wins and losses, but each game we’ve got to prepare the same way. But obviously tonight there’s definitely some extra motivation to try to get this one.”
Still, a tanking roster with tanking strategy can only hold off its destiny for so long.
And, not coincidentally, the Nets had rookies, a 10-day contract and two two-way contract players on the court down the stretch when they gave up the game, like they usually do.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
