The latest chapter of the battle for New York between the Knicks and Nets lacked the star power the first meeting had.
The Nets held off their city brethren all the same, even with some late drama.
Spencer Dinwiddie, starting in place of the injured Kyrie Irving for a fifth straight game, led the way with 30 points as the Nets left the Garden with their third straight win, 103-101 over the Knicks on Sunday night.
“Heck of a tight game,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Our guys executed in the end.”
The Knicks (4-13), who were without rookie RJ Barrett (illness), made things interesting in the final minutes with a pair of 3s from Marcus Morris (26 points) and one from Wayne Ellington, cutting the Nets’ lead to 98-97 with 1:21 left. But Joe Harris calmly responded with a bucket on the other end, with the crowd in a frenzy, and later added two clutch free throws to secure the win.
“Again, we’re right there, giving ourselves a chance,” David Fizdale said after the Knicks dropped both ends of a back-to-back, their late comebacks falling short both times. “I was very proud of our effort and the way we competed, especially down the stretch.”
Irving proclaimed before the first Knicks-Nets game of the season that the Nets (8-8) were “going to take over the whole entire city.” The star point guard wasn’t able to help in that pursuit Sunday, though, missing his fifth straight game because of a right shoulder impingement.
But Irving’s backup proved plenty capable. Dinwiddie got hot early and helped close out the game late. He scored 13 of his game-high 30 points from the free-throw line, where the Nets held a major advantage (27-for-34 compared to the Knicks’ 9-for-16).
“I think the biggest stat that really hurt us was the touch fouls and putting them on the line,” Fizdale said. “I gotta watch the film. Those are tough calls. I don’t envy the refs.”
Frank Ntilikina credited Dinwiddie for playing a savvy game.
“He’s just a really talented player offensively who knows how to create contact and play with the referees,” Ntilikina said. “He’s really smart.”
Jarrett Allen added 18 points and 10 rebounds while Taurean Prince chipped in 14 points, 11 rebounds and five assists as the Nets improved to 2-0 against the Knicks this season with their fourth straight win in the series.
The Knicks, in the midst of a challenging 10-game stretch, dropped to 2-5 since team president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry’s impromptu postgame press conference turned up the heat on Fizdale. They have been more competitive consistently, but do not have the results to show for it.
Both teams took their turns controlling the play in the first half. The Nets put together a 22-3 run to take their biggest lead of the game, 29-15. But the Knicks answered with a 15-0 run of their own bridging the first and second quarters to briefly regain the lead.
Morris, who shot 7-for-8 from beyond the perimeter, drained a 3 to tie the game at 61 midway through the third quarter before the Nets finally pulled away for good. They leaned on their improved defense to take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter and hung on late despite the Knicks making one final run at them.
“They made tough shots, we made shots, but we didn’t get stops down the stretch,” Julius Randle said. “They’re good at being crafty late in the shot clock, crafty at getting the ball into the paint. Especially Spencer swooping through and all that type of stuff. Just gotta be disciplined. We didn’t have it.”