Nets 114, Knicks 112: “Leave me on him”
The New York Knicks allowed the Brooklyn Nets to complete the season series sweep on Monday, in a 114-112 loss.
The third installment in any saga is almost always the worst one.
Look at Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, or Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Or, for the larger part of you reading this: Monday night’s matchup between the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks. It was the final installment in their 2020-2021 season series.
And a third straight Knicks loss to the Nets.
Without all of Blake Griffin, James Harden, and Kevin Durant, Brooklyn’s offense was still too much for New York — particularly Kyrie Irving, who scored 40 points on the night.
Julius Randle got things started for the Knicks with the first of his 12 assists on the night on this dime to a cutting Nerlens Noel.
And it didn’t take long for him to find Reggie Bullock in what has become a nightly connection:
That three from everyone’s favorite veteran wing tied things up between New York and Brooklyn at 17 points at about the halfway point of the first quarter.
The back-and-forth bout continued until an exclamation point dunk from Taj Gibson closed the first quarter.
Well, at least in our hearts it did. The referees ultimately ruled it just short of the buzzer.
At this point the second of the Brooklyn Nets’ big three (Harden) was ruled out of the game with hamstring tightness, and the game became a must-win.
Obi Toppin’s biggest highlight came just after the start of the second quarter, with the New York Knicks actually utilizing the rookie forward in a pick-and-roll set.
The result? Points scored, to the surprise of few.
The Knicks started pulling ahead around the nine-minute mark of the second quarter. Alec Burks gave New York a 7-point lead with this lob to Nerlens Noel:
Derrick Rose was a key piece to the offensive punch. He finished the first half with 15 points.
But it was Bullock who gave the Knicks their largest lead of the first 24 minutes, knocking in a 3-pointer to push the Nets’ deficit to 13 points with less than two minutes remaining:
The Knicks closed the first half on a 17-6 run and walked into halftime with a 10-point lead.
Spirits were high, the game was fun, and it looked like a series sweep wasn’t in the cards.
But then came a sloppy performance third quarter, filled with fouls and turnovers alike.
New York didn’t give the game up, thanks to RJ Barrett continuing his streak of impressive third quarter play, but it was enough to let the Nets (Kyrie Irving) climb back into this one.
That brings us to the fourth quarter, and a continued inability for anyone on the Knicks to close games out. Barrett had some nice moments, as did Randle, but the Nets’ overall team effort prevailed like the ending to some cheesy television program for children.
Alec Burks hit a monster 3-pointer to tie the game at 112, but Bullock fouled Jeff Green on the other end, who rewarded the poor decision with two free throws and a Brooklyn lead.
With 3.7 seconds on the clock, the Knicks went to their best player, Randle, for a jumper to tie it up and send it to overtime. No love, no dice, no bucket.
Notes
It’s going to be hard for the pessimists among us to find anything enjoyable or positively noteworthy about this one, admittedly. But we got another nice game from Obi Toppin, who finished the night with five points and an assist in nine minutes.
Unfortunately the other New York rookie, Immanuel Quickley, continued what should officially be considered a shooting slump. He shot just 1-4 on the night, earning only 13 minutes of play from drill sergeant head coach Tom Thibodeau. Quickley’s shooting 31% from the field over his last seven. YIKES.
As a team, the Knicks had a solid showing from behind the arc, having made 14 of their 29 attempts from deep. Five of those came by way of Reggie Bullock, of course, but this is one of the NBA’s worst offenses, and beggars can’t be choosers.
I know Anthony Edwards is new to the NBA, but everyone and their grandmother is aware of how big RJ Barrett’s balls are. After missing a game-winning shot against the Minnesota Timberwolves last week, Barrett put up a number of big shots in this one, in both the third and fourth quarters, to keep New York in it.
Since returning from injury, Elfrid Payton’s averaging just 20 minutes per game. He averaged 28 over the 34 games prior. Thibodeau may be seeing the light just yet.
Julius Randle once again seemed to be favoring his leg down the stretch. I’m all in on the “playing your best player 40 minutes nightly” program, but without him, the Knicks couldn’t beat five of me in a close game situation. He finished with a triple-double though, something Russell Westbrook would no doubt remind you if prompted. Something to monitor.
When all is said and done, there are things that Elfrid Payton did somewhat well at some point in time on some basketball floor in a New York Knicks uniform that he won’t be remembered for.
His pleading to teammates in the fourth quarter to maintain one-on-one coverage with Kyrie Irving is something he didn’t do well, at all, that will be remembered in the years to come.
“Leave me on him.”
The New York Knicks seem destined to hover ahead of this three-way fork in the road for the remainder of the 2020-2021 season.
One night they make waves, push themselves to above .500, and all is right in the world.
Other nights they come from behind, earn a hardy win, and balance the scales as a .500 team.
And on some occasions, they remind us that this grey area is their natural state, at least for the time being; typically by way of a heartbreaking loss.
“Leave me on him.”
