The Nets delivered a convincing blowout over their crosstown rival in Jacque Vaughn's first game as head coach, topping the Knicks, 112-85.
Here are the takeaways...
- The Nets led wire-to-wire behind Kevin Durant's stellar play. He recorded a triple-double -- 29 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists -- on 53 percent shooting from the field.
- Brooklyn improves to 5-7 while New York drops to 5-6 on the season.
- New York ran back its lineup of Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, Julius Randle and Jericho Sims while Brooklyn started with Edmond Sumner, Joe Harris, Royce O'Neal, Durant and Nic Claxon.
- The Knicks were once again without Mitchell Robinson, with the Nets missing Yuta Watanabe and TJ Warren due to injury. Kyrie Irving was out serving his suspension.
- The opening quarter was an absolute clinic from the Nets. A 12-0 run just past the midway point put them up 24-8. New York hit just two of their first 12 field goals at that point, while Brooklyn made it look easy on the other end.
- Sumner caught fire from the corner, going 3-for-3 for nine early points. Randle kept his confident shooting going from the night before, with four threes en route to 15 first quarter points.
- Brooklyn cruised to a 38-22 lead to close the period, led by Durant's 11 points and six assists.
- The Nets extended their lead to 50-30 early in the second, answered by a 7-0 Knicks run.
- Durant quickly ended New York's fun, picking apart each one of their defenders with his mid-range game. Brooklyn went on a 10-0 tear to extend their lead to 69-44 at the half.
- Sumner kept up his hot hand with another six in the second to bring his first half point total to 15. Seth Curry caught fire from three in the period, racking up 14 points heading into halftime.
- The third quarter began with more of the same, New York probing and Durant shutting down their comeback attempts. The Knicks starters were able to create some decent looks but couldn't convert at a good enough rate.
- However, as the quarter progressed, Brunson finally found his offense, putting in a couple buckets and getting to the free throw line to cut the lead down to as low as 15 with a couple of minutes to go.
- Simmons' big highlight of the evening was a putback dunk late in the third quarter. He put up six points, nine rebounds and four assists on the night. Brooklyn led 92-71 going into the fourth.
- The Knicks failed to create another comeback attempt in the final period. They struggled to even convert a basket, making one in seven minutes. Brooklyn coasted to the finish line.
- Curry finished with 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting from downtown. Sumner finished with 18.
- Barrett and Brunson struggled to create tonight. The former shot 5-for--14, including some missed bunnies at the rim. The latter went 4-for-14, with just two assists and an uncharacteristic three turnovers.
- New York's bench fell short, too, with Derrick Rose going 0-for-4 and Immanuel Quickley shooting 1-for-8 from the field. Obi Toppin and Evan Fournier each shot 2-for-7.