A late surge from the New York Knicks was enough to keep their dominance over the Brooklyn Nets intact.
The Knickerbockers now boast a run of 15 consecutive victories. Last night they won by a final score of 103-90.
Other than that, it was a dreadful game. Practically unwatchable for the first three quarters.
The Nets showed why they are one of the worst teams in the NBA, and the reigning champion is, for now, still on holiday.
It was with an unusual line-up in the final quarter that the Knicks reacted. Driven by Tyler Kolek and Jordan Clarkson, they went from being 4 points down to 10 points up.
“We finally managed to play quickly and we managed to stop them on defence,” said Josh Hart.
“We had been sluggish and playing in a very chaotic way. But we managed to get out in transition and create good shot opportunities,” he added.
With Brunson on the bench, the Knicks finally woke up. Clarkson and Anunoby caught fire down the stretch to turn the game around.
Landry Shamet led the home side’s attack with 22 points, supported by the aforementioned Brunson with 19 and Anunoby with 18 points to his name.
“The problems are still there,” Hart stressed.
“We’re not doing badly on defence, but our attack urgently needs to improve. That’s what’s holding us back right now. We have to analyse it and get better,” he admitted.
For his part, Julius Randle wanted to impress against his former team and ended up crashing. He played in a real rush and missed practically everything.
The Nets forward finished with 21 points on 5/16 shooting from the field.
Other highlights
Nets: Michael Porter Jr. contributed 18 points on 4/11 from three, and his team-mate Nolan Traoré added 17 points on 5/6 from long range.
Knicks: Anunoby caught fire down the stretch with 8 of his 18 points in the final quarter alone and Karl Anthony-Towns added another double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
(Cover photo: Reuters)
