Knicks lose heartbreaker to Nets on controversial last minute call

Knicks fans need to take a deep breath after this one.  The most anticipated game of the season lived up to its billing, as the Knicks lost a nailbiter to Brooklyn Nets, 117-112.  New York trailed by as many as 18 in the second half before slowly crawling back, led by second-half breakouts by Julius Randle and RJ Barrett.

The Knicks played lockdown defense in the final seconds of the game, trapping James Harden in the backcourt with 19 seconds left and causing Brooklyn to call a timeout.  Brooklyn then had to call another timeout as they couldn’t find an open man.

After a successful challenge that reversed a foul on RJ Barrett, the Knicks won the jump ball and found themselves down by three with possession and 5.7 seconds left before an egregious travel call on Julius Randle.  Randle was furious, as Kyrie Irving seemed to tip the ball as Randle went up with the shot.

Brooklyn has won 13 of their last 14 and is half a game behind the Philadelphia 76ers for the 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.  New York fell to .500 and will play the 76ers on the road tomorrow night.

Adding even more juice before tip-off, Immanuel Quickley made his first career start.  New York’s backcourt is decimated, as Quickley and Frank Ntilikina were the only two point guards available.   Quickley didn’t disappoint, scoring 21 points as the Knicks were seen running their offense through the 21-year-old rookie.

But it was not enough, as James Harden and Kyrie Irving continued to put on a show.

Harden recorded his 10th triple-double in his 26th game as a Net, finishing with 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 15 assists.  He played 40 minutes and continued to look like an MVP Candidate.

Irving scored 34 points on 13-18 shooting.  Quickly was given the impossible task of guarding the former 1 overall draft pick.  He did his best, but Irving dazzled – shaking and baking Quickly throughout the night.

After a slow first half, Randle finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists. He was at the center for much of the game tonight, as Brooklyn ended up going small with Jeff Green at the five.

Barrett kept his hot streak going, scoring 21 points with 6 rebounds and shooting 10-10 from the free-throw line.  He has scored 20 points in six of his last seven games.

The Knicks played hard, but the game came down to two numbers: The Nets shot 57.9% from the field.  The Knicks shot 40.2% from the field.  They just couldn’t get enough shots to fall.  It’s as simple as that.

And as teams around the league are coming to learn, you’re going to have to play perfect basketball to beat these Nets.  And even that might not be enough.