Ajit Karn
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During the Clean Sweep era, death, taxes, and the Brooklyn Nets beating the Knicks. As of Saturday night, the Nets had won 13 of their 15 games against the Manhattan Nets since the 2018 season began, including eight in a row.And Brooklyn did not disappoint. When up against New York, you should never. The final score was 122 to 115 for the Nets over the Knicks. There’s no problem even without Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons, or T.J. Warren. Kyrie Irving gave them everything they needed.
It started early, with Brooklyn leading by as many as 18 points, 62-49, at halftime. And even though Brooklyn was shooting well (11 for 21 from deep), their 13-point lead was a good reflection of how each team played. Even though Brooklyn only scored three points in transition (thanks to a bomb by Yuta Watanabe), their pace was great. Their half-court offence had a lot of dribble handoffs and guard-to-guard screens, which kept the ball moving from side to side and made the Knicks have to play their game plan every time they had the ball. Most of those things, they didn’t do it.
Jacque Vaughn said that keeping things simple was the main reason for Brooklyn’s offence: “I just think overall we kept things really simple, and the eight turnovers showed that. We had 31 assists and only eight turnovers, so we were able to share the ball, play quickly, spray the ball, and drive and kick with space. “It’s nice to see.”
Kyrie Irving avoided double teams and traps. The Knicks players who were supposed to chase Patty Mills, Joe Harris, and the others off screens didn’t stick with them, and the switches they did try were sloppy.
The best ball-handler in the NBA said it best: “Yeah, it’s a beautiful game to watch when everyone is firing on all cylinders. And it’s a great game to take part in.”
On the other end, Brooklyn chose not to use a common way to defend against the Knickerbockers, especially Julius Randle. Instead of crowding around the ball and getting help early, they were happy to let him work 1-on-1 with few interruptions, except at the basket, where Nic Claxton was waiting. Most of the time, it worked. Randle got everything he could handle from Royce O’Neale.
“I was pretty much watching both my man and Randle at the same time,” said Claxton. “Royce did a great job watching him, too.”
His coach agreed: “Royce started on him, really keeping his body in front of him, and didn’t foul him early on. All of his looks were talked about. So that part of it, and then letting Nic move around a bit and giving Royce some peace of mind if Julius could drive.”
Randle scored a total of 19 points on 16 shots, most of which were hard to get.
But New York fell into the trap, which was more important than any of his individual numbers. It seemed like every possession was a ten-second isolation from the mid-post that took a lot of work. In the first half, when Brooklyn switched Nic Claxton onto Jalen Brunson on the perimeter, the same thing happened. Even though it was fun to see two crafty left-handed players of different sizes go at it, and even though Brunson did make some tough shots, the Knicks offence was far from “humming.” Sure, it was a simple offence, but it was nothing like the simple play that coach Vaughn praised in his own team after the game.
As the game went on, that part didn’t change, so it wouldn’t be right to say that the Nets stopped following their game plan. The difference between the first half and third quarter, which the Knicks would win 32-26, was the bench mob that kept the ship steady in their first stint couldn’t quite replicate that level of success.
Day’Ron Sharpe was fine, but he made too many mistakes and didn’t do any of the great things he did in the first half, such as making three tip-in layups. Even though it wasn’t all his fault, the second unit’s offence, which included Sharpe screening and handoffs around the high post, wasn’t as successful. In the third, Edmond Sumner turned the ball over twice. Even though Patty Mills made some tough jump shots in the first half and scored seven points when they were needed, she did not play in the second half.
The end of the third quarter wasn’t a total disaster, though. Brooklyn went into the fourth quarter with a seven-point lead, and their decision to switch players around paid off. Irving and Claxton played the whole fourth quarter. Joe Harris’s fourth three-pointer of the night pushed the Nets’ lead from five to eight, which was the smallest it had been since the first quarter. This was the first vintage performance Joe Harris had given in a while. When Brooklyn’s chest felt a little constricted, he hit a three – whether off movement, off a swing pass, in transition – to provide a deep exhale.
Then it was time for Kyrie Irving. With Mariano Rivera there and Enter Sandman playing as he was shown on the video board to loud cheers, it was only right that one of the best closers in the NBA got going. A catch-and-shoot three (from a nice baseline drive-and-kick by Joe Harris), a fadeaway for two, and an assist on a three-pointer by Seth Curry. Then he scored three of his own to make it 14-3. A dagger, perhaps? Not quite. It was definitely Kyrie Irving’s time, but he hadn’t completely taken over yet. Just one of his three-point shots went in and out, and the game would not have been so easy to win.
Kyrie said that at the beginning of the fourth quarter, he was just “doing the little things” and “pacing it out” to make good shots at the right time. He also said, “There were a few in-and-outs that I thought were going to go down, but they didn’t.”
So, the Knicks had real momentum at different points down the stretch. Their best moment was when Quentin Grimes cut the lead to three with a put-back dunk. Hello, transcendent takeover time:
In less than a minute, he scored eight points, including two self-made, hard-to-make threes. One of them came from a triple threat face-up, and the other was a deep step-back. Irving scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, and almost all of them were great. He had another 30-point game out of nowhere. After all, this was Knicks vs. Nets, and Irving just doesn’t lose to these guys in black and white.
On his way out, a Knicks fan told me, “Make sure you write that the Knicks stink!” Even though the Knicks could have played better, this was a win for the Nets all the way through. Sorry about that. The best player from New York lost to the best player from Brooklyn because Brooklyn’s best player had a much better game plan. Again, on 40 tries, they made 55 percent of their long shots. (Jacque Vaughn said, “I wouldn’t mind having 10 more. I said in the huddle, “Let’s get 50 up,” as long as they’re good ones.”)
It seems like the Nets can win this game no matter what goes right. Without Kevin F. Durant, it doesn’t matter how many shots they make. You can be sure that it will go well, which is not something that is often said about the Nets. Not unless they play the New York Knicks.
On the Rivalry: Kyrie Irving’s answer to a question about the rivalry between the Knicks and the Nets was both the most cold and calculated and the most personal. “It’s a rivalry if the NBA calls it Rivalry Week. So that’s fine with me,” Irving said. But he did make one thing clear: “So, for me, I love beating the Knicks and playing against them.”
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But we know that Irving’s feelings about basketball in this part of the world come from personal ties, not just professional ones. In an answer that some East-Coasters may feel a strong connection to, he went into great detail about this:
So, to conclude:
“I grew up in New York and New Jersey, so this is a different feeling for me,” said Irving. “Well, I’ve seen a lot of TV shows while sitting in my den at my best friend’s house. Whether I was watching the game with my father or his father, or just with my father watching the game and admiring the players at the Continental Airlines Arena, Madison Square Garden.
“So for me, it’s fun to play against the Knicks and beat them. But in the end, it all comes down to the goal, which is to win the game.
“Nothing about you.”
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Game story from an eventful night at the 'Clays, yet another Nets victory over the Knicks, w/ film/quotes/extras.— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) January 29, 2023
For his part, Jacque Vaughn is just glad to be here. When it comes to what he learned from the match, he was right on target: “So I think overall, being able to enjoy the competition. It’s pretty cool, in my opinion. I think the two teams have some bragging rights and good competition.”
Nic Claxton said the same thing, but only after someone pointed out that the Nets haven’t lost to the Knicks in over three years. “You could feel the energy in there today,” he said with a long, wry smile. We were at Barclays, where they had a lot of fans, and it was a great atmosphere. I’ve never lost to the Knicks since I’ve been in the league, he added. Not at all! (Unless you want to count the days he was in Long Island when the big league team did lose, which would be unfair.)
