• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

March 17th 2017

Nets 121 Knicks 110

 

It was literally a tale of two halves. No, seriously this is not a cliché statement; it was a tale of two halves for the Brooklyn Nets as they faced the Knicks at the Garden last night. The Nets had little energy in the first half of the game however after a monster 3rd quarter they accomplished something that had eluded them all season. They got their first road victory against an eastern conference opponent.

 

The last time these two teams met the Nets needed 120-points to pull out a victory last night they added 1-point to their total and came away with the same results. That’s now two victories against the cross-town rivals in five days.

 

Let’s talk about that 3rd quarter. At the half the Nets trailed 61- 54 but from the beginning of the third it was clear that they came out with more energy. Brook Lopez was aggressive and had 11-points in the period, Jeremy Lin was also more active. They scored 38-points in the period while holding the Knicks to 26-points.

 

Brook Lopez had 24-points and 6 rebounds however it was the play of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson that got the Nets energized, especially in the 3rd. He was everywhere on the court and finished with 20-points and 10 rebounds. Rondae also guarded Carmelo Anthony for most of the night and forced him into some tough shots.

 

Caris Levert once again showed why the Nets are so high on his potential; he had another nice game as he has clearly become more comfortable in his rookie year. He was slashing to the basket and opened up his game with a few shots from the perimeter. He just looks a lot more calm and fluid offensively. He finished with 13-points and 7 rebounds.

 

Jeremy Lin returned to the Garden where his stardom began and had a nice battle at the point guard position with Derrick Rose. Both guards played well and seemed to be challenging each other. Rose won the offensive battle but Lin got his teammates involved with 8-assists on the night.

 

The Knicks were without Kristaps Porzingis as he suffered a bruised thigh in the Knicks victory against the Pacers Wednesday night. Kyle O’Quinn picked up the slack as he had 23-points and 8 rebounds for the home team. Melo had 17-points but was 6-18 from the floor.

 

The Knicks are still hoping to string together some wins to try to get the 8th seed in the eastern conference playoff race but with 13-games left and inconsistent play they may fall short.

 

For the Brooklyn Nets, picking up their 13th victory of the season this late in the season means that they are not worried about a playoff push, they are more concerned with finishing the season strong and evaluating talent. They recently signed Archie Goodwin to a 10-day contract and newly acquired KJ McDaniels played some solid minutes in this victory. He finished with 9-points and 5 rebounds in 18 minutes of action.

 

The Nets will be in action against the Celtics on St Patricks Day (Friday March 17th) while the Knicks will have a few days off before they face the Clippers on Monday March 20th.

Thank You for reading.

Sherman Gomez is a staff writer for PureSportsNY

Follow him on Twitter: sherman@shermangmz1

Email: Sherman@puresportsny.com

Instagram: dash_nathan

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By Sherman Gomez

"Basketball is my favorite sport, I like the way they dribble up and down the court." "I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller." "Last week messed around and got a triple double." I write about basketball sometimes and then I try to go play....

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