The Brooklyn Nets had an opportunity to drive a stake into the heart of their crosstown rival on Wednesday. Instead, they wound up on the wrong side of history, losing 120-66 to a New York Knicks squad that had dropped nine of its previous 11 games.
The 54-point massacre at Madison Square Garden marked the largest win in Knicks franchise history. It was the second-worst loss in Nets franchise history, nearly surpassing a 59-point defeat against the Los Angeles Clippers last season. Brooklyn's 66 points are the lowest scored by an NBA team in over nine years.
“I’m the one responsible for it,” Jordi Fernandez said after the historic loss. “I didn't prepare them well enough to play and compete at the highest level… I have to help them better. In the last 12 games, we’ve been poor defensively, poor offensively. And that falls on me. Players are not responsible for it. I’ve gotta make sure that they understand the values that we have and how we want to play.”
Jordi Fernandez after tonight’s 54-point loss:
“I’m the one responsible for this. The players gotta move on… I have to help them better… I gotta make sure they understand the values that we have and the way we wanna play.” pic.twitter.com/z5mOt9Ff59
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) January 22, 2026
The Nets shot 23-of-79 (29.1 percent) from the field and 11-of-40 (27.5 percent) from three. They were outscored 46-20 in points in the paint, 12-0 in second-chance points and 29-4 in fastbreak points.
Leading scorer Michael Porter Jr. was held to just 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting. Brooklyn's four rookies — Egor Demin, Drake Powell, Nolan Traore and Danny Wolf — were a combined 5-of-33 from the field. Meanwhile, the Knicks shot 46-of-80 (57.5 percent) from the field and 16-of-32 (5o percent) from three as a team.
Brooklyn's players pointed to a lack of attention to detail, such as not putting Jalen Brunson in enough offensive actions, when discussing their struggles. However, a 54-point loss goes beyond X's and O's.
Knicks pummel Nets by 54 points before sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden
Fernandez's squad looked like it didn't belong on the same floor as the Knicks, who got booed off the court on Monday during a blowout loss to the 18-26 Dallas Mavericks.
With their season on the line, New York played with the urgency of a desperate team from the opening tip. Meanwhile, Brooklyn resembled a group counting down the days until the offseason and May's draft lottery.
“It’s just unacceptable,” Noah Clowney said. “It can't happen that way again. At all… They haven’t been playing well, and they were like, ‘Well, we’re fittin’ to get us one.’ We came out thinking that we were going to get us one, and they played like they wanted it. Even at halftime, we felt like if we would hit back, we had an opportunity. But we didn’t. We went out there, and they hit us again… This is about as bad as it can get.”
It's no secret that the Nets are mired in a tanking season. However, the prospect of finally defeating the Knicks and sending them further into disarray appeared to be as great a motivator as they would have all season.
New York had won 12 straight games against Brooklyn entering Wednesday, the longest streak of the rivalry. While the Nets' players say they were excited by the opportunity in front of them, their lack of intensity and engagement said otherwise.
“The first thing [we addressed after the game] was the [lack of] fight. You gotta come to play every night, otherwise, in a competitive league like the NBA, you're gonna get blown out like we did,” Drake Powell said.
The Nets' schedule won't get any easier over the next week. They'll face the Boston Celtics on Friday at Barclays Center before a five-game road trip featuring matchups with the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons.
