Knicks bench flips fourth quarter, beats Nets 103-90 for 15th straight win in rivalry
Landry Shamet scored 22 and a 25-5 fourth-quarter burst from the Knicks bench erased a deficit as New York beat Brooklyn for the 15th straight time.
For three quarters on Monday night, the New York Knicks looked like the team that might finally lose to Brooklyn. Then they took the game away in a few minutes. New York opened the fourth quarter on a 25-5 run, turned a 79-75 deficit into a 100-84 lead and won 103-90 at Madison Square Garden. It was the Knicks' 15th straight win over their crosstown rival, according to The Associated Press. Brooklyn has not beaten them since Jan. 28, 2023.
The win evens nothing yet, but it moves New York to 3-4 with three wins in four games after an 0-3 start. Landry Shamet kept the offense afloat for long stretches and finished with a season-high 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 29 minutes off the bench. Jalen Brunson added 19 points and six assists. OG Anunoby scored 18, and two of his threes came on back-to-back trips during the fourth-quarter surge. Karl-Anthony Towns went scoreless in the first half and still finished with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
The bench turned the game. SB Nation's Posting and Toasting described a flat night at the Garden. Brooklyn had won at Indiana the night before, yet still closed the third quarter on a 19-6 run to go ahead. Mike Brown had said Jose Alvarado would get his backup point guard job back after missing four games with a sprained left ankle, but Brown sent Tyler Kolek out to start the fourth. Kolek set up Josh Hart for a three on the first trip down the floor and later scored on a feed from Hart. Jordan Clarkson had been pulled in the third after two quick fouls and a technical. He came back to hit a corner three that made it 91-81. Hart finished plus-22 with eight points, seven assists and six rebounds, and New York won the quarter 28-11.
The win didn't fix everything. Mikal Bridges shot 1-of-7 for six points in 16 minutes. He sat from the 8:44 mark of the third quarter to the final buzzer, and Brown kept Shamet on the floor instead when he went back to his regulars late. The Knicks shot worse than Brooklyn from the field in the first half and stayed ahead mostly on threes and free throws. Ten of their 13 first-half baskets came from deep. Julius Randle had 21 points and a double-double against his former team. Michael Porter Jr. scored 18 and Nolan Traore 17 for the 1-6 Nets.
Chicago gets a rematch at the Garden
The Bulls visit on Wednesday, November 4, a week after New York won 133-127 in Chicago. That is still the Knicks' highest-scoring night of the season. The schedule has been close to even so far: New York is 2-2 at home and 1-2 on the road. Every loss has come by nine points or fewer, including a 98-93 loss in Philadelphia on Saturday.
The recent trend has been on defense. The Knicks have held their last two opponents to 98 and 90 points. Brooklyn scored only 11 in the fourth quarter, and the Knicks forced turnovers on several Nets possessions down the stretch. The rotation questions are still open for Wednesday. Bridges' minutes come after another poor shooting night. Brown also has to choose among Alvarado, Kolek and Clarkson for the backup guard minutes after the bench decided this game. Brown has called Alvarado the backup point guard, but on Monday Kolek and Clarkson played the decisive stretch.
