Coming up to the one-quarter mark of the 2016-17 NBA season, the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets find themselves separating from each other. The 10-9 Knicks won three of their five post-Thanksgiving matchups, while the 5-14 Nets dropped four their five clashes during the past week.
New York Basketball Weekly Recap
Brooklyn Nets
Ironically, the one victory for the Nets over the past week came against the Los Angeles Clippers, who subsequently thrashed the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers on their home court. However, the win over Los Angeles was an aberration for Brooklyn, which has lost nine of its last ten games.
On November 25th, the Nets traveled to Indianapolis to face the Pacers, dropping a 118-97 contest. Two nights later, Brooklyn watched Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins put up 37 points and haul down 11 rebounds in the Kings’ 122-105 win.
That Nets win over the Clippers didn’t come easy, lasting two overtimes before coming away with a 127-122 win. A furious fourth quarter rally aided Brooklyn, which trailed by 18 with two minutes left in the third period. The rally was sparked by Sean Kilpatrick, who scored all but seven of his 38 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
That euphoria didn’t last long when Milwaukee came to town and walked away with a 111-93 victory. A third quarter run helped the Bucks win and gave Jason Kidd another triumph against his old team. Two days later, the Nets fell again to the Bucks, keeping the game close until the final few minutes.
For the next week, the Nets now return home to face the Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets. These are winnable games against teams with a collective record of 13-22.
New York Knicks
For the Knicks, their three wins were sandwiched around a pair of defeats. An overtime thriller on November 25th against the Charlotte Hornets ended up in a 113-111 New York victory. The following night, Charlotte managed to emerge with a 107-102 win over the Knicks.
On Monday night, New York fell at home, 112-103, to Oklahoma City. That was in spite of 30 points from Derrick Rose, who was overshadowed by MVP candidate Russell Westbrook’s third consecutive triple-double of 27 points, 18 rebounds and 14 assists.
Two nights later, the Knicks managed to win 106-104 over the Timberwolves, despite another monster performance by an opposing player. This one came from Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns, who tallied 47 points and 18 rebounds, but Carmelo Anthony’s basket with 2.3 seconds left won it. New York also defeated Minnesota back at The Garden on Friday night.
A busy schedule is on tap for New York, beginning with a home game against Sacramento later today. That’s followed with a trip to Miami on Tuesday to face the struggling Heat and then concludes with a formidable home game against the Cavaliers, who’ve started out hot.
Main Photo
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 7: Carmelo Anthony of New York Knicks in action against Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on December 7, 2014 in New York, United States.
(Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
