Friday night, the New York Knicks took on their inter-city rival Brooklyn Nets for bragging rights.
Although it was not much of a contest, as the Knicks got out ahead early behind the strong play of Arron Afflalo. Afflalo scored the first 7 of the 9 Knicks’ points, and went a perfect 4/4 from the field in the first quarter. Afflalo finished the game with 18 points.
New York then completely blew the game out of reach with their astonishing three-point shooting. Four consecutive three-pointers propelled the Knicks on a 16-0 run that gave New York a 20-6 lead midway through the opening quarter.
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New York would finish the first quarter with seven three-pointers, nearly matching their 7.2 per game season average within the opening period. Carmelo Anthony had the hot hand, knocking down three moneyballs in the first quarter. Kristaps Porzingis converted on a couple of triples, while Afflalo and Langston Galloway chipped in one a piece.
The Knicks doubled up on the Nets 42-21 after one-quarter of play. The 42 first quarter points scored were just three points shy of a franchise record.
New York shared the ball well in the first quarter, collecting ten assist on 14 made field goals. Jose Calderon led the attack with six assists in the opening period, finishing the game with ten assists. The ten assists marked a season high for any individual Knick this year so far.
The Knicks led 65-42 at half time, the 65 points marked the most points scored in any half this season.
It was more of the same to start the second half, as Porzingis went backdoor for a dunk to open up the period. The trio of Anthony, Porzingis, and Afflalo combined to score 20 of the Knicks’ 27 points in the third quarter.
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Anthony had a phenomenal game, knocking down five three-pointers to score 28 points, and also finished with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Porzingis finished the game with another double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, marking the tenth double-double of the season. Porzingis also had it going from beyond the arc, knocking down three triples Friday night.
New York led by as many as 31 points but a 8-0 Nets’ run to start the fourth quarter forced the Knicks to insert their starters back into the game. This was really not ideal…as New York will have another game tomorrow night against the Milwaukee Bucks and really could have used the rest…
Anthony righted the ship, scoring six points to push New York’s lead back up to 20 points with 3:43 remaining in the game; 101-81. The Knicks went on to win the game 108-91, easily cutting down the Nets with a wire to wire win.
New York scorched the Nets from downtown, knocking down 12 three-pointers at a 44.4% conversion rate. The Knicks shared the ball well all night long, finishing the game with 25 assist on 39 made fields.
Next: Phil Jackson Talks Kristaps Porzingis' Magical Element
The next time this rivalry will resume will be in the new year, as the Knicks are scheduled to visit Barclays Center on January 13, 2016. Let’s see if the game will be anymore competitive in Brooklyn.