The Brooklyn Nets broke one losing streak yesterday. They couldn't break another at Madison Square Garden this evening, losing to the New York Knicks for a 15th straight time.
For whatever it's worth, which can't be much, the Nets did flirt with their first win over their crosstown rivals in nearly four years. In a way, they were close, as Brooklyn led late and never trailed by more than nine entering the fourth. But in another, they looked as far off as ever, completely unraveling and playing their worst basketball when it mattered most.
You don't need me to tell you this, but the latter is what separates the winners from the losers in this league.
The Nets began tonight with the same five they fielded in their win last night against Indiana. And, Nolan Traoré picked up right where he left off, splashing a deep triple and assisting on a Day'Ron Sharpe jam during Brooklyn's third and fourth possessions of the game to help Brooklyn establish and early lead. By the end of the game, he'd finish with 17 points and four assists while shooting 5-of-6 from deep. He turned it over twice, but also grabbed a steal and blocked a shot.
The defense, however, wasn't so easily copy and pasted over from the prior game. Whether it was miscommunication on switches or doubling in the gap and living with the result, the Nets gave up several corner threes early in the contest. Shooting 6-of-14 from deep in the first, New York caught and overtook Brooklyn quickly, going up 27-21 after one.
"I think that when you buy into playing as hard as you can, there's always breakdowns, and it's about giving your second and third, especially your your third effort," Fernández said. "It's easy to give one or two, but we always say we want three or more."
While Julius Randle received a warm welcome in the Garden tonight after being introduced with Brooklyn's starting five, he looked rather uncomfortable on the floor early on, beginning the game 0-3 from the field with a turnover. He did, however, assist on a Mikel Brown Jr. ATO triple in the opening frame.
Oddly enough, it was the 20-year-old rookie in MSG for the first time, not the old fan favorite, who looked at ease early on, moving well around New York's defensive pressure both on and off ball. After sitting out the last game for back injury management, Brown Jr. put up five first quarter points on 2-3 shooting. With five seconds left in the frame, he also dished an assist after blowing past Landry Shamet and Duece McBride to find Mo Wagner in front of the cylinder for an and-one.
"I think Mikel is a rock star," Fernández said. "He's gonna keep taking steps. And right now, we always want him to be aggressive, but he has the responsibility to run the team, and that's a big deal."
But with 150+ career games on that floor, you knew Julius Randle would find his footing already. And in the subsequent quarter's first four minutes, he did, as Julius pitched in four points to help the Nets start the period with a 9-0 run.
Playing the Knicks as a Net for the first time, Randle downplayed the rivalry, saying that he didn't feel any different now coming into it from Brooklyn's side.
"No, not really," he said. "Honestly, not really. I try to keep the game the same and stay levelheaded, so it's fun, always fun competing, but not really."
The Nets even retook the lead for a moment until a wayward Traoré pass found its way to Mikal Bridges, who took it all the way down the other way for an uncontested jam. For the fans still salty over his exit, it's worth noting that Bridges did little else worth mentioning beyond that point tonight. He finished just 1-7 from the field and played only 16 minutes.
Still, the Knicks controlled things for much of the second. Despite beginning the quarter 1-of-8 from the field while the Nets opened 6-of-13, New York benefitted from five extra free throws to stay afloat, even as Traoré made up for that turnover with another fine period. Nolan hit another triple in the second to stay perfect, adding 11 points and two assists in the first half…
However, it wasn't enough to overcome Brooklyn's woeful perimeter defense and the free throw discrepancy. Michael Porter Jr. had little-to-no interest closing out hard as the Nets gave up another bushel of corner threes in the second. The Knicks, despite having just 13 made field goals at halftime, went 15-of-16 from the line, while the Nets were just 4-of-6.
While the fan in you might want to pound your fist and chalk that up to an unfair "champ-friendly" whistle, the Nets weren't wise, even if innocent defenders, often fouling late in the shot clock and even the game clock, as Randle left his feet to give Brunson an extra pair right before the second quarter buzzer sounded. The Nets also fouled New York on three 3-point attempts.
So, Brooklyn trailed at the break by a 51-44 score. And early in the third quarter, they continued to lurk, as both teams traded buckets early on to keep the deficit intact.
The Knicks did piece together a 7-0 run at the heart of the frame, threatening to turn this into the blowout the 14.5 point spread advertised. That was, until Brown Jr. got back on the attack. He bolted through the New York defense for two quick finishes at the rim to ignite a 13-0 burst from Brooklyn, capped off by triples from Porter Jr. and Wagner, which gave them a small lead.
Brooklyn maintained that advantage, up 79-75 ahead the final frame. It was Brooklyn's first lead against the Knicks going into the fourth quarter since January of 2024.
It then evaporated in a flash, and became difficult to believe it had ever been there at all even quicker.
The Knicks began the fourth with a 9-0 jolt after the Nets missed two long threes and Wagner smoked a layup, which allowed New York to rebound, run, and shoot with space. Then, after a string of Brooklyn turnovers, it boiled into an extend 16-2 run. Like they had last summer, the Knicks looked like they owned the fourth quarter. The Nets looked like they were just renting space.
"I feel like we just wasn't connected as a group down the stretch," Brown Jr. said. "National champs, they played together for a long time, so we knew at some point they were going to make a run. That's just what great teams do. We didn't do our part on sustaining the level of connectiveness and just playing together on both ends of the floor."
Traoré hit his fourth triple to pump the brakes and make it a 91-84 game with 6:31 to go, but rather than swinging it, that shot got swallowed up by the New York momentum. The Nets kept missing shots around the rim and started losing all the 50/50 balls. With 3:50 to go, the Knicks had outscored Brooklyn in the period 23-5, and led on the scoreboard 98-84.
Shellshocked, the Nets could only let time trickle away by that point. Randle finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but went 1-3 from the field with four turnovers in the fourth. Porter Jr. finished with 18 points while shooting 4-11 from deep, but went 0-2 with zero points in nine fourth quarter minutes. Brown Jr. finished with 13 points, three assists, and two rebounds, but went 0-4 in the fourth with a turnovers. The team collectively shot 3-16 from the field in the final quarter.
While acknowledging the disappointment that comes with losing, Fernández opted to stay positive postgame.
"We played great for 39 minutes, and then the last nine were not good enough," he said. "I'm asking these guys to play as hard as they can, and the last two games, they've done it. There's a lot to learn from being organized and dealing with the lead, and obviously that's my responsibility to help them to be better right there.
"There's a lot of positive in this game to just throw everything out of the window think that we didn't do good things. It hurts because you wanted to win the game, and we're all competitive, but as we all know, if we keep playing as hard as we played in the last two games, there's going to be a lot of good things, and a lot of growth, because remember that it's not just a new group, but also a young group, and right now we want to see these steps. I think if you put too much negative energy into the group and into the young kids, then that that affects the growth. So, I'm proud of the group."
Final: New York Knicks 103, Brooklyn Nets 90
Julius Randle recorded his first double-double of the season tonight vs. NYK with 21 points and a season-high 10 rebounds. It is his first regular-season double-double in 23 outings, last recording one on 3/3/26 (MIN vs MEM).
With his 17th point tonight vs. NYK, Michael Porter Jr. reached 7,000 points in his NBA career. He is one of six players since his debut in 2019-20 to total 7,000 PTS, 2,500 REB and 1,000 3PM, joining Luka Dončić, James Harden, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Lauri Markkanen.
Brooklyn gets a day off before going back home to host the Charlotte Hornets yet again, tipping off on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. EST. After a brutal stretch to open the season, minus their first game, which of course came against Charlotte, this begins a winnable stretch of games for the Nets, with contests against Atlanta, Dallas, and New Orleans to follow.
Mikel Brown Jr. scores 13 off the bench vs. NYK (Video) – YES Network
Mikel Brown Jr.'s shot eludes him late another rough Nets loss – Howie Kussoy – New York Post
Nets push Knicks before fourth-quarter collapse in missed chance to earn respect – Howie Kussoy – New York Post
Slow-starting Mikal Bridges benched during Knicks fourth-quarter comeback ($) – Stefan Bondy – New York Post
Knicks turn it up in fourth for convincing win to continue domination of Nets ($) – Stefan Bondy – New York Post
Another game, another big deficit to be erased – Steve Popper – Newsday
Even after ending Knicks title drought, Jalen Brunson gets cut little slack ($) – Steve Popper – Newsday
Josh Hart sparks Knicks as Nets unravel in fourth for 15th straight rivalry loss ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
For Nets' Julius Randle, coming home goes beyond the Garden ($) – C.J. Holmes – New York Daily News
Knicks rout of Nets only masks larger issues ($) – Kristian Winfield – New York Daily News
Nets' Roster Still Lacking Two-Way OG's – Steve Lichtenstein – Steve's Newsletter
Nets player grades after 103-90 loss to Jalen Brunson, Knicks – Shareef Phillips-Keaton – USA TODAY
