In a meeting of crosstown rivals, the Knicks hung on to defeat the Brooklyn Nets 124-122 in New York’s second NBA Cup Group Play matchup on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Here are some takeaways…
– The Knicks have already been playing without some of their key pieces early on this season and they were even more shorthanded in this one, as star center Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) and sixth man Miles McBride (illness) were ruled out after attempting to go through pregame warmups.
– Even with their leading scorer sidelined, the Knicks were able to get off to a hot start offensively, as all five starters found their way onto the stat sheet and they knocked down six of their first nine shots. New York spread the ball well and took advantage of the smaller Nets lineup, recording 16 points in the paint in the opening frame.
The Knicks pushed the lead up to as many as six, but Brooklyn’s leading scorer Cam Thomas was doing everything he could to keep things close, knocking down all seven shots he took including a stretch of five consecutive three-pointers to finish with 18 first-quarter points.
– With Jericho Sims slotting into the starting lineup in place of Towns, Tom Thibodeau was forced to expand his rotation a bit and he leaned on the rookie trio of Tyler Kolek, Ariel Hukporti, and Pacome Dadiet to play alongside Josh Hart and Cam Payne in the second unit.
While they’ve had limited opportunities thus far this season, Hukporti and Dadiet stepped up in a big way on both ends of the floor to help the Knicks push their lead during the second. The dynamic young duo combined to record seven points, five rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and a steal as they closed out the first half strong.
– Thomas again was keeping the Nets in this one early in the third quarter, when the Knicks finally started to pull away, as Mikal Bridges knocked down a pair of buckets and later connected with OG Anunoby for an alley-op to push the lead all the way up to as much as 21.
– As has been the case all season, though, the Knicks struggled to put things away. The Nets refused to go down quietly as they opened the fourth with a big run of their own and drilled five threes in the quarter to cut the deficit back all the way back down to single digits.
Brooklyn took the lead on a Dennis Schroder three with 12 seconds remaining, but Jalen Brunson answered right back with a jumper of his own, and then Bridges came up with a massive block down on the other end at the buzzer to secure the thrilling victory.
Bridges was terrific all night in his first meeting with his former team, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and the game-sealing block. Brunson drilled clutch bucket after clutch bucket down the stretch to put together a 37-point showing on 12-of-20 shooting.
Hart finished a rebound and an assist shy of a triple-double (12-9-9) and Hukporti stepped up with seven points, four rebounds and three assists. Cam Thomas was tremendous for Brooklyn, putting together his second straight 40-point showing at The Garden (43), but it ultimately wasn’t enough.
Game MVP: Mikal Bridges
It was an all-around strong effort for the Knicks in this one, but Bridges enjoyed one of his best offensive showings of the season taking on his former team.
Highlights
Upcoming schedule
These crosstown rival will face-off again in a regular season matchup this time on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. at The Garden.
