In what was a revival of a nine-year rivalry between the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks on Tuesday, the two Eastern Conference contenders delivered a thriller in their first meeting of the season. After it was all said and done though, the Nets showed exactly why they still run New York.
James Harden (34 PTS, 10 REBS, 8 ASTS) was a man on a mission to start, scoring 15 points in just the first quarter on 4-of-5 accuracy from the field. He helped to set the tone with Kevin Durant (27 PTS, 9-23 FG) not looking as sharp as he usually is on any other given night.
Brooklyn made sure to put pressure on New York’s defense all game by attacking the interior and it paid off. They got to the line to shoot 25 times and overall, the team scored 46 points in the paint. Getting buckets in the paint has been something that Nets head coach Steve Nash has stressed in these early stages of the campaign.
After building a 16-point lead, it seemed like the Nets where in control of the game going into the final period. Well, that was until New York finished the third quarter on a 16-4 run. This helped to trim the deficit to a four-point lead to go into those final 12 minutes.
It came down to the final two possessions of the game to decide a winner. With the score knotted up at 110, James Johnson (7 PTS, 2 REBS) was the hero for Brooklyn after making himself an option for Durant with mere seconds left in the game after he was getting doubled.
Johnson drove and got to the free-throw line, where he sealed the deal for the Nets. With no timeouts and just 2.2 seconds left in the game, Evan Fournier (13 PTS) put up a shot from half-court, but it didn’t fall.
Nash and his squad will look to keep the momentum going on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Barclays Center.