While the New York Knicks have their sights set on a championship this season, the Brooklyn Nets are eyeing losses and lottery odds. It showed on Sunday. The Nets were demolished 134-98 before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden.
Brooklyn trailed by as much as 39 points during the embarrassing defeat. It marked the Nets' 11th consecutive loss to their crosstown rival after they won nine straight from 2020 to 2023.
“Just not good enough,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “We want more and we want better. I’ll be the first one to demand that. And if we don’t get it, obviously, I’m the first one who’s got to take the blame. And I’ve got to look at myself in the mirror.”
Brooklyn's NBA-worst defense was no match for the Knicks' high-octane offense. Fernandez's squad provided little resistance, allowing New York to shoot 48-of-89 (54 percent) from the field and 17-of-37 (46 percent) from three.
Nets blown out by Knicks during first crosstown matchup of season
The Nets' transition defense remained apathetic, as the Knicks outscored them 18-4 in fastbreak points. Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson bullied Noah Clowney and Nic Claxton, with New York outscoring Brooklyn 58-36 in points in the paint. The Nets were outscored 80-32 in points in the paint during Friday's 125-107 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
“Those are the situations we want to grow, having attention, a level of attention and communication to all those things. And it’s not happening,” Fernandez said of his team's defense. “Obviously, I cannot go out there and coach every play and every action. I know our guys have the ability to be way better, and we have very high expectations for our guys on how they work and how they compete. And there’s a lot of room to improve, so that’s the exciting part. From now to Game 20 to 30, 40, and all the way to 82, we want to see improvement. So, right now we’re in a good spot because it should be easy to improve this.”
Towns led the Knicks with 28 points, 12 rebounds and two assists on 10-of-17 shooting. Jalen Brunson and O.G. Anunoby added 19 points apiece, while Mikal Bridges chipped in 16 on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from three.
Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. scored a team-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Rookie wing Drake Powell added 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from three.
“I think we shot ourselves in the foot, just with the way we started,” Powell said. “They made tough shots… [Jordi's] main [thing postgame] was just to stay together. When adversity hits, you get to see who you really are and what you’re made of.”
The loss dropped the Nets to 1-9, their worst start since 2015-16. Brooklyn will be back in action on Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors at Barclays Center.
