Nets 122, Knicks 115: “Sheesh”

Jan 29, 2023 - 3:13 PM

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The Knicks brief two game winning streak was halted in Brooklyn as the Nets held off New York late to win 122-115 on Saturday night at Barclays Center.

Kyrie Irving stole the show in the fourth quarter as he finished with 32 points and nine assists. He closed the game on a red hot tear to stave off a late Knicks rally and single-handedly finished off the win for Brooklyn. Joe Harris chipped in 16 points, Seth Curry had 14 points and Royce O’Neale added in 14 points in a winning effort.

Brooklyn were in control of the game until the midway point of the third quarter as the Knicks were able to fight their way back behind 26 points from Jalen Brunson. Julius Randle really helped the comeback attempt as well with 19 points and was two assists shy of a triple double. RJ Barrett had 24 points and six rebounds as New York outscored the Nets by six in the third quarter to cut a 13-point halftime deficit down to seven going into the fourth.

Despite the great fight the Knicks showed, New York never got over the hump in the final period and Irving hit some ridiculous shots to help close out the game. Each time it looked like the Nets were going to let the Knicks back in it, Irving would hit a big shot. Of his 32 points, 21 of them came in the fourth quarter and there was nothing the Knicks could do about it.

Brooklyn has won the first two games against the Knicks this season and they won this one without Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons available too. The Nets have won nine straight against the Knicks and are four and half games back of the top seed in the east. New York stays in seventh at the time of writing and are a game and half behind the Heat for sixth place in the east.

They say stars rule the NBA game and as much as we could nitpick little plays here and there the Knicks still had a chance to win the game late until Irving caught fire. An extinguisher wasn’t going to put it out either. In the NBA, you need to fight fire with fire and New York just doesn’t have a star of that caliber that can keep up. If you don’t have one of those players, games like this will happen and the Knicks suffered the consequences.

This tough stretch of games continues with a subway trip back to MSG for a Tuesday night clash with the Lakers. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30p.m. We will have the coverage as always.