Post Game Reaction: Nets 120 Knicks 112
It was a battle for New York as the Nets and Knicks were playing today. The Nets won this one easily 120-112. Its not like either team is playing for much as both are at the bottom of the East. As bad as the situation is for the Knicks, they can just look at the Nets and be happy they are not them. With every Nets loss, means a better pick for the Celtics as they own the Nets pick. So in reality they want to win as many games so that the Celtics have a worser pick. Lets break this game down.
Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports
This game was over very quickly as the Nets were up by as many as 20pts in the first half. The Knicks made a few runs in the second half to cut the lead under 10pts but never really threatened the Nets. The Nets would just get the lead back up to 15-17 after any run by the Knicks. Like last night against the Pistons, the Knicks showed very little effort on defense. They let the Nets do what they want, scoring 120pts and hitting 19 threes. The Nets shot 50% from the three point line, hitting 19-38. Its also is the Nets first win within the division.
The Nets were led by Brook Lopez with 25 pts, they also had 7 players in double-figures and getting 53 bench points. The Knicks got 6 players in double figures and Melo made an appearance after disappearing last game. Hornacek told him that he wanted Melo shooting more, well he took 26 shots after taking 9 last night. He only made 10 of them, scoring 27pts but at least he was looking for his shot. The point total looks better as he went heavy iso in the 4th to score 12 meaningless points but he still only know how to play one way and that is iso ball. You can see why no team was that interested in trading for him.
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The Nets hit 19 threes. The Knicks should be embarrassed with this showing as the Nets, who have the worse record in the league just hit 19 threes, 14 of them in the first half. Most of them were wide open. It was a total clinic. The Nets looked like the Steve Nash run Phoenix Suns as they would get open three after open three. They could have easily hit 5-7 more of those open looks. To play all your regular starters and too see this kind of performance is just plain sad. Hornacek should just bench the starters as none of them play with any effort.
This may be the lowest point of the season for the Knicks. They were healthy and playing all their starters and still were blown-out. The final score may say it was competitive but in reality they just made it closer at the end. It was a 20-point lead for most of the game. I already felt that the Knicks should tank, hopefully this loss is an eye-opener for the management to bench some of the starters like Porzingis, Rose and Melo. It's time to fully get behind tanking. The next game for the Knicks is on Tuesday against the Pacers. As Knick fans we should start rooting for losses at this point that we can look forward to a high draft pick. It's all we have left after another poor season by the Knicks.
