The Brooklyn Nets hosted the New York Knicks at Barclays Center on Saturday to battle for the second time this season and 122-115. Brooklyn leads the regular-season series 2-0.
For the Nets, Kyrie Irving had 32 points and nine assists while Joe Harris had 16 points and two assists. Royce O’Neale and Seth Curry had 14 points each.
For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson had 26 points and four assists while RJ Barrett had 24 points and six rebounds. Julius Randle had 19 points and Immanuel Quickley had 16 points off the bench.
This battle for New York City was not close in the first half as the Nets could not miss from the three-point line. Brooklyn was playing well in every phase of the game except for limiting New York in points in the paint and on the glass.
In the second half, the Knicks started to string good possessions together and abused the Nets in the paint and on the glass. Despite Ben Simmons (knee soreness) and TJ Warren (shin contusion) being ruled out prior to tipoff, Kyrie Irving was able to close the game for the Nets by scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter.
Here are your Nets player grades:
Kyrie Irving: A-
Irving struggled to shoot the ball in this game. He started off the game shooting the ball well, but he found little success shooting the ball from anywhere on the court as the game went on. He did a decent job rebounding the ball as he needed to help out on the glass with Claxton having to wrestle with Julius Randle and Jericho Sims. While Irving was inefficient shooting the ball. he did a great job setting up his teammates for easy buckets. He also did a good job competing on the defensive end. Irving had an incredible fourth quarter as he scored 21 points and single-handily closed out the game for the Nets.
Seth Curry: B
Curry did a good job of shooting the ball in this one. He did most of his damage inside the arc as he did not shoot much from behind the three-point line. He did a good job of passing the ball and keeping his head up to find an open teammate. Curry played solid defense despite having tough matchups against Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett.
Joe Harris: A
Harris did a great job of scoring the ball in this game. He did most of his damage from three-point land and he looked confident shooting the ball all night long. He also did a good job of attacking closeouts and making some mid-range shots that way. Harris played good defense and actually did a good job of keeping the ball in front of him.
Royce O'Neale: B+
O’Neale did a good job of shooting the three-ball in this contest. He did a good job on the glass as he had to fight with Julius Randle all night long. O’Neale did a good job of passing the ball when the Knicks doubled Irving and he was solid in his defense of Randle throughout the game.
Nic Claxton: A
Claxton had a quiet start to this game on the offensive end, but by the end of it, he had some good numbers in the scoring department. He was awesome rebounding the basketball while having to deal with the likes of Jericho Sims and Isaiah Hartenstein. Claxton also had some dimes in this one and he was once again awesome in defending the rim.
Cam Thomas: C-
Thomas got a good amount of minutes in the first half as Jacque Vaughn was trying to find a way to get some scoring off the bench with Ben Simmons and TJ Warren being ruled out prior to the game. Thomas did not have it going at any point and his shot selection was questionable at best. He was good on the defensive end for the Nets and that bought him some extra minutes.
Edmond Sumner: C+
Sumner did a decent job of scoring the basketball in this one. He did a good job rebounding and passing the ball as he had more responsibilities to run the offense with Ben Simmons not playing. However, he struggled to defend without fouling on the defensive end and that may have led to him not playing much in this game.
Day'Ron Sharpe: C
Sharpe gave some quality minutes off the bench having to fill in with Simmons and Warren being ruled out. He did a good job being active on the glass and he played some solid defense.
Patty Mills: B-
Mills did a good job of scoring the ball off the bench. He did not shoot the three-ball well, but he was able to make some shots in the mid-range to keep his rhythm going. He did a good job passing the ball and he wasn’t much of a detriment for the Nets on the defensive end.
Yuta Watanabe: B
Watanabe was awesome shooting the ball from the three-point land. He did an okay job rebounding the ball and he had some flashes as a passer as well. He also played some solid defense as he was part of a good defensive effort on Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson.
