{"id":170375,"date":"2026-03-21T10:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T10:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/170375\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T10:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T10:33:10","slug":"brooklyn-nets-fight-new-york-knicks-like-hell-but-lose-93-92-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/170375\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Nets fight New York Knicks like hell, but lose 93-92"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brooklyn Nets were so thoroughly \u201cembarrassed\u201d last time<\/a> out (Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s word, not mine) that the loss didn\u2019t reflect just their own shortcomings, but for many, a spiritual rot <\/a>at the center of the NBA. Brooklyn scored just 24 points in the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder\u2019s historic defense, not just a poor output but a disgraceful one.<\/p>\n

Hark! The doubtless millions who tuned in to watch the defending champions face an Eastern Conference cellar-dweller with less than a month left in the regular season were rudely treated to a 29-point blowout. What is the NBA prepared to do about it? A question that surely must be asked and debated every day, all the time.<\/p>\n

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On Friday evening, the Brooklyn Nets didn\u2019t just cap off their three-game homestand. They defended their honor, against the New York Knicks no less.<\/p>\n

The 17-52 Nets were the more physical team from the jump, more engaged on defense than they\u2019ve been in weeks. The visitors underestimated their opponent, yes. But Brooklyn\u2019s multiple efforts were no less impressive\u2026<\/p>\n

After a successful first half, Ziaire Williams told YES Network\u2019s Meghan Triplett: \u201cWe owe them one. They whooped on us last time we played \u2018em, this one\u2019s a little more personal. We\u2019re just getting after it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams spoke no lie. This was not going to be another 120-66 win for the \u2018Bockers. The Knicks scored a season-low 14 points in the first quarter. This marked quite a role reversal for Brooklyn, who took a 50-44 lead into the break, much to the dismay of the majority blue-and-orange Barclays Center crowd. Brooklyn defended Jalen Brunson particularly well, trapping his ball-screens and showing aggressive help when he had a one-on-one matchup. The Knicks captain shot just 7-of-19 in this one while ex-Net Mikal Bridges (boy that feels like ages ago) scored just nine points .. one point for each of the assets the Knicks gave up for him. Instead, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns took the offensive lead.<\/p>\n

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Dare I say it almost felt like a rivalry? Perhaps the Knicks were just pissed about their sluggish start, but Mitchell Robinson and Ziaire Williams got double-techs in the first half after Robinson took great offense to a Nolan Traore foul\u2026<\/p>\n

Nic Claxton and OG Anunoby continued the fun in the second half, picking up double-techs after refusing to keep their hands to themselves.<\/p>\n

Sadly, it was not Brooklyn\u2019s first-round rookies that kept them in this one. At least offensively. Danny Wolf, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, and Ben Saraf combined to shoot 9-of-33. Traore, at the very least, had seven assists (to four turnovers) while Powell and Saraf applied noteworthy ball pressure on Brunson.<\/p>\n

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Brooklyn\u2019s rangy wings led them in this one. Ziaire Williams scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, two of them coming on this pick-six\u2026<\/p>\n

Said Fern\u00e1ndez: \u201cSometimes we gotta let Ziaire be Ziaire, right? His energy is contagious, and a lot of times it\u2019s not going to be perfect, but he just makes up \u2014 sometimes he\u2019ll make mistakes and he makes up for them with, like, that extreme energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh Minott, age 23, led the team with 22 points, making a career-high six threes. Once again, it was his best game in a Nets uniform, perhaps the best game of his career. He also recorded a couple blocks and a steal, even hitting OG Anunoby with a nasty pump-fake and score at the end of the first quarter\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayed really, really, really hard,\u201d said Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cAnd then you see his line right \u2026 he\u2019s playing very well, took advantage of his minutes. And you know, it\u2019s good to see, you know, continuing to evaluate these guys going into the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Yet again, it was the bench outplaying the starters, and they were rewarded with major second-half minutes. It appeared the Knicks were finally running away with it toward the end of the third quarter, taking their first double-digit lead of the game.<\/p>\n

Then, out of nowhere, Chaney Johnson, Malachi Smith, Ochai Agbaji, Saraf, and Minott lead an 11-0 Nets run to make things tight once again\u2026<\/p>\n

It was nail-biting time. Unsurprisingly, neither Claxton nor Williams ever returned to the game, but tank or no tank, the reserves truly earned the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Per Fern\u00e1ndez, the veterans even urged their head coach to keep rocking with the two-ways and 10-day: \u201c\u2018They\u2019re rolling, they\u2019re rolling, stay with them,\u2019 and it was good to see. It\u2019s good how they support each other and how they see that we have a chance to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Brooklyn took an 87-84 lead with just over three minutes to go. They were really about to do it. This was beyond tanking \u2014 the deepest part of Brooklyn\u2019s roster was outplaying the nonchalant Knicks. Alas, it was not to be. Brunson hit a pull-up, KAT continued to bulldoze his way to the line, as he shot more free-throws than the Nets by himself.<\/p>\n

Postgame, Fern\u00e1ndez hinted but did not explicitly say that poor refereeing really killed his team: \u201cIt comes down to the free-throw line and some of those things we cannot control. You know, 32-to-10, it\u2019s absolutely \u2014 if you do your math, it\u2019s 22 free-throws of difference. Yeah. Right there is the game, but the guys played the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

KAT, however, missed his final two attempts, giving the Nets one last chance to pull off the stunner. But their first sideline-out-of-bounds play was deflected, and all they could muster was a Ben Saraf half-court heave that fell ten feet short. That may be for the best in the long run, and this will go down as just another loss, same as the 54-point blowout they experienced in MSG.<\/p>\n

But it sure didn\u2019t feel that way.<\/p>\n

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Final Score: New York Knicks 93, Brooklyn Nets 92<\/p>\n

Milestone Watch<\/p>\n

As previously mentioned, Minott made a career-high six 3-pointers against the Knicks, and his 22 points, marks the second-most in his career. Additionally, his six 3-pointers tie Ziaire Williams as the most 3-pointers by a Net off the bench this season.<\/p>\n

Josh Minott Speaks<\/p>\n

Yes, this one deserved its own category.<\/p>\n

Postgame, a passionate Josh Minott sat at the podium and cursed, a lot. Normally, we censor that sort of thing on NetsDaily, but given that it might be the best quote any Net has given in years, I\u2019ll make an exception for Minott, who was asked what his first taste of the crosstown rivalry meant to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted that shit so fucking bad,\u201d he began\u2026<\/p>\n

Yes, Minott went there, touching on the \u201caway\u201d crowd that dominates most games at Barclays Center, particularly when the Celtics (his former team) or the Knicks pay a visit. But man. It\u2019s tough not to root for Minott \u2014 particularly as a Nets fan \u2014 after Friday night.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s just all about trying to just help the team win. Like I said since I\u2019ve been here, we have such a good group of people, it\u2019s easy to like them. I know we\u2019re all young, but I\u2019d say that damn near adds to us \u2026 I feel like it\u2019s so easy to just click with everybody. I mean, they\u2019ve welcomed me, they\u2019ve uplifted me since I got here. And it\u2019s like, you just know right there. So I\u2019d say tonight, it was a demonstration of what we have moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Injury Report<\/p>\n

Pregame, Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez provided a couple updates on injured Nets, including one for Michael Porter Jr.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn announced<\/a> on Thursday that an MRI revealed a left hamstring strain for their leading scorer, scheduled to be re-evaluated in two-to-three weeks. The regular season, of course, has just over three weeks left. It would be quite the surprise if Porter Jr. plays in another game this season, though Fern\u00e1ndez wouldn\u2019t commit to that.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTwo-to-three weeks, but obviously there\u2019s ramp-up to get back to a competition level,\u201d said Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cSo, you know, we cannot predict [if he will play again], but it will be close. So we go through these two, three weeks, and then put the work in and so forth. And then we\u2019ll see where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The head coach also revealed that Noah Clowney will miss at least one more game \u2014 the Nets travel to Sacramento on Sunday \u2014 with the sprained right wrist he suffered on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

Next Up\"<p>Rocky<\/p>\n

Rocky Widner\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We have one hell of a tanking battle on our hands. The 17-win Nets travel to Sacramento to face the 18-win Kings in their first of two meetings this month. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET. At the moment, the Nets hold the third best odds for the overall No. 1. That puts them two games behind the Kings and a half game behind the Wizards with 12 to go.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, the Nets have opened a four-game gap over the Jazz. Absent an unlikely Nets win streak and season closing losing streak by Utah, it seems increasingly likely that the Nets will finish the season with a top four pick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brooklyn Nets were so thoroughly \u201cembarrassed\u201d last time out (Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s word, not mine) that the loss…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[7936,98,100,355,99,11943,40438,7937,7935,4777,6160,4570,25470,1555,54589,4600,14063,1557,9,24,1104,4601,4610,63,21516,6474,9132,9421,25466,4607],"class_list":["post-170375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-ben-saraf","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-celtics","tag-chaney-johnson","tag-danny-wolf","tag-drake-powell","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-jazz","tag-jordi-fernandez","tag-josh-minott","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-malachi-smith","tag-michael-porter-jr","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-mitchell-robinson","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-nic-claxton","tag-noah-clowney","tag-nyc","tag-ochai-agbaji","tag-og-anunoby","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-sacramento","tag-wizards","tag-ziaire-williams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}