Jalen Brunson scored 30 points and Julius Randle also finished with 30 and converted a go-ahead dunk with one minute left as the New York Knicks rallied down the stretch for a 108-103 victory over the struggling Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night in New York.
After facing a nine-point deficit going into the fourth, the Knicks pulled within striking distance, and Randle’s putback gave them a 98-97 lead with four minutes left. Dorian Finney-Smith hit a 3-pointer with 3:47 left to put Brooklyn up 100-98, and Mikal Bridges split two free throws to tie the score at 101-101 with 1:28 remaining.
After missed layups by Dennis Smith Jr. and Cameron Johnson, New York’s Josh Hart snatched the defensive rebound and passed the ball to Brunson. Brunson then found a cutting Randle for the contested dunk to make it 103-101, much to the delight of the numerous Knicks fans in the crowd at Barclays Center.
After Hart’s layup with 25.3 seconds left, Brunson split two free throws with 19.8 seconds remaining. Johnson missed a 3-point attempt with 6.8 seconds to go, and Randle sank two free throws with 3.1 seconds on the clock to lift New York to its fourth straight win and 10th in 12 games since obtaining OG Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors last month.
Donte DiVincenzo added 11 points while Anunoby had 10 as the Knicks shot 46.5 percent from the floor. Randle also nearly got a second straight triple-double, finishing with nine rebounds and seven assists.
Bridges sank a career-high seven 3-pointers and led all scorers with 36 points, but he was held to three in the fourth quarter as the Nets lost for the 11th time in 13 games. Johnson added 19 points as the Nets were outscored 32-18 in the fourth after getting outscored 41-15 in the fourth in Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, when they allowed the game’s final 22 points.
Cam Thomas contributed 14 points while Nic Claxton grabbed a career-best 17 rebounds as the Nets shot 44.2 percent overall but missed 16 of 23 shots in the fourth.
Johnson scored 11 of Brooklyn’s first 16 points and the Nets took a 28-26 lead by the end of the opening quarter before the Knicks held a 50-49 lead by halftime. Bridges scored 18 points in the third quarter to help the Nets take an 85-76 lead into the fourth before fading.
–Field Level Media
