Knicks end Brooklyn blues with easy win

Hand Nets fourth straight loss in Battle of Boroughs opener

December 21, 2023 John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Film director Spike Lee and Knicks player Immanuel Quickley

Film director Spike Lee and Immanuel Quickley celebrate as the Knicks and their fans took over Barclays Center Wednesday. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The Knicks ended a six-game losing streak at Barclays Center Wednesday night.

The Nets suffered their season-high fourth straight loss in their much-anticipated return to Downtown Brooklyn.

And Mikal Bridges still couldn’t shoot his way out of his ongoing slump.

Bridges misfired on all but four of his 21 field-goal attempts as Brooklyn slipped below .500 with a disheartening 121-102 loss to New York in the opener of this season’s Battle of Boroughs series in front of a sellout crowd of 18,071 fans on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.

Julius Randle poured in 26 points and Donte DiVincenzo added 23 as the Knicks (16-11) won in Brooklyn for the first time since the day after Christmas in 2019.

Having finished their disappointing West Coast trip with a 1-4 mark, the Nets (13-14) were trying to avoid their first four-game slide since dropping five in a row from March 14-23 last season.

They failed in epic fashion, watching helplessly as Knicks reserves put together a 14-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters with starters Jalen Brunson and Randle enjoying the view from the bench for New York.

Quentin Grimes’ 25-footer capped the burst with 9:56 remaining, assuring Knicks fans bragging rights until the teams meet again here on Jan. 23.

Immanuel Quickley scored 19 points off the bench and recent Net nemesis Brunson had 16 for New York, which has won three straight against its East River rivals after losing nine in a row to Brooklyn when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were headlining the Barclays marquee.

Bridges, who went a dismal 13-for-41 from the floor in the Nets’ previous three losses, was even worse after insisting Monday he’d not let his teammates down again.

Mikal Bridges and the Nets couldn’t keep up with Jalen Brunson and the Knicks Wednesday night in Downtown Brooklyn. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

After going 4-for-16 during Brooklyn’s trip-ending loss at Utah, the 6-foot-6 forward from Villanova sank only one of his eight tries from 3-point range and was 3-for-13 inside the arc. He did manage to knock down all six of his free throws.

“You just go through little patches where the ball isn’t going in for you,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said in defense of Bridges.

Though they played in five cities over seven nights on their trip, the Nets weren’t willing to use fatigue or the continued absences of regulars Dennis Smith Jr. (back) and Lonnie Walker IV (hamstring) as excuses.

At least Vaughn wouldn’t after noting that the Knicks had just returned from a four-game sojourn of their own.

“We both were on the West Coast. Nobody can use that as an excuse, Vaughn insisted. “They came back home, we came back home, played a game, same amount of rest, and they were better than us tonight in all facets of the game.”

Cam Thomas and Cam Johnson had 20 points apiece and Bridges finished with 15 for the Nets, who went 15-of-47 from long range, got outrebounded, 54-49, and only got to the line 17 times while sending the Knicks to the stripe on 25 occasions.

“Everything’s back to normal I guess,” Randle jabbed when asked about New York’s recent mastery of Brooklyn in the annual four-game set.

Brunson amassed 79 points in the Knicks’ previous two wins over the Nets at Madison Square Garden last season, but concentrated more on feeding his red-hot teammates Wednesday with a game-high eight assists.

Waiting at least another week or so to get Smith Jr. and Walker IV back, the Nets won’t have much time to lick their wounds after this one.

Defending NBA champion Denver will be at Barclays Friday night just a week after burying the Nets 124-101 to begin Brooklyn’s slide.

Bridges was held to nine points on 3-of-8 shooting that night, and still hasn’t found the touch that made him the Nets’ leading scorer prior to his recent funk.

“Mikal is more than just scoring for us,” Vaughn pointed out. “I don’t want to get in a position where I’m just thinking of him as a scorer. He does so much more for us.”

Cam Thomas scored 20 points, but the Nets lost their season-high fourth straight game to the rival Knicks Wednesday. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

NOTHING BUT NET: Day’Ron Sharpe quietly put together an impressive stat line off the bench for Brooklyn. He scored nine points, pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds, including nine off the offensive glass, and handed out three assists in 19 minutes. … The Nets dipped below the break-even mark for the first time since being 7-8 on Nov. 25. … After hosting the Nuggets Friday, the Nets will welcome league-worst Detroit to Barclays on Saturday in the opener of a home-and-home. The Pistons had lost 24 straight entering their Thursday night game vs. visiting Utah. Detroit is two defeats shy of matching the longest losing streak in NBA history. … The Nets announced Wednesday that injured guard Ben Simmons would be re-evaluated in two weeks as he continues to recover from a nerve impingement in his back.