Russell’s 23 Not Enough In Loss To Knicks
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Shara Talia Taylor
The Brooklyn Nets fell to their cross-town rivals, the New York Knicks, in a 99-95 loss Tuesday night at the Barclays Center.
It was their third meeting of the regular season. The Nets played competitively throughout the game, outscoring the Knicks in the first and fourth quarter and gaining a lead at the end of the game.
“The environment out there was great,” Nets Head Coach Jordi Fernández said about the rivalry. “These games are really good.”
Coach Fernández knew the matchup would make a special game that would attract a large crowd. The Knicks are one of the leading teams in the Eastern conference with their record this season, but Coach Fernández planned for his team to stay together and to tune out the noise. “I think it’s a good opportunity for us to play a high-level game,” he said in his pregame Interview. “If we are focused and we play extremely hard, we’ll give ourselves a chance so it’s all we can control.”
The game was loud with cheers of MVP for Knicks’ Jalen Brunson and at times there were boos when the Nets shot free throws. Brooklyn trailed by 10 points by the first timeout of the game, but picked up the pace and led 26-24 by the end of the first quarter. The Nets made fewer shots in the second quarter, while the Knicks found more success. Brooklyn made 45% of their attempted field goals in the first quarter, but made only 38.1% of their field goals in the second quarter. New York shot 37.5% from the field in the first quarter and 59.1% in the second quarter.
Brooklyn trailed 59-51 at halftime and could not regain the lead in the third quarter. They trailed 84-75 by the end of the third quarter.
A 3-pointer from Keon Johnson gave the Nets a 88-87 lead in the fourth quarter with 5:18 minutes left in the game. However, the Knicks tied the score and defended and left with a win. “I was obviously happy for him and the guys to see that hard work pays off,” Coach Fernández said about Johnson’s shot. “We couldn’t close it, but like I said, very happy with seeing that shot taken by our best player.”
“I think fast play was something that we could have capitalized on more,” D’Angelo Russell said about the game.
Russell led the team with 23 points and 10 assists. He had three blocks. Cam Johnson added 16 points. Nic Claxton had 8 points and led Brooklyn with 12 rebounds.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 rebounds and six assists for the Knicks and a game high of 25 points. OG Anunoby added 20 points and three steals and Jalen Brunson contributed 17 points and four assists.
“I thought it was a great battle,” Fernández said. ” I’m very happy with the fight, the performance and I want to see it again tomorrow.”
The Nets took on the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night.
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