Takeaways from Knicks' 111-106 loss to Nets, including a 28-point lead erased

The Knicks blew a 28-point lead and fell to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, 111-106.

Here are the takeaways...

- It was a tale of two halves for the Knicks in this one. Leading by 28 points at one point in the second quarter, the Knicks hit 13 three-pointers in the first half, tied for the second most in a half in franchise history. In the second half, they hit just 3-of-20, which propelled them to erase their fourth double-digit lead this month, and third 20-plus point lead.

- It was a very hot start for the Knicks, who knocked down 10 of their first 12 field goals, and went 8-for-11 from three-point land in the first quarter. Coupled with Brooklyn missing 21 of their 27 shots in the first (including 12-of-13 misses from deep), the Knicks led 38-18 after the first 12. Quentin Grimes, Julius Randle, and Evan Fournier all hit two three-pointers in the first, and Kemba Walker and Immanuel Quickley each added another. Randle led the way with 14 points on 5-for-7 from the floor.

- The threes continued to fall for New York – Quickley, who had really been struggling from deep prior, hit another, and Cam Reddish got on the board from deep, and the Knicks took a 54-26 lead. Brooklyn was able to cut their deficit down to inside of 20 points as the Knicks got a bit cold from the floor, but Randle and Fournier were able to connect on more threes to help the Knicks to a 65-44 lead at halftime. Randle had 20 points and six boards at the half, and the Nets shot just 21 percent (4-for-19) from three in the half.

- The three-point shooting trends switched sides at halftime, though, and the Nets opened up the second half on a 22-8 run to make it a seven-point game. The Knicks shot just 32 percent compared to the Nets' 52 percent in the quarter, but were able to stop the bleeding a bit, go on a run of their own, and lead 87-73 through three.

- The Knicks got their lead up to 18 in the fourth, but continued to shoot poorly from deep at the start of the fourth, and the Nets went on a 26-6 run -- with 15 unanswered points in that span -- to take a two-point lead, totally erasing their 28-point deficit. Randle then hit two straight buckets to put the Knicks back up by two, but Seth Curry drilled a three to give the Nets the lead again, and LaMarcus Aldridge slammed home a dunk to make it a three-point Brooklyn lead. Quickley hit a floater to make it 104-103 Nets, but Aldridge answered right back with a midrange jumper. Quickley missed a game-tying three, and the Nets got two offensive boards to waste some more clock, and then rookie Cam Thomas drilled a three from the logo to make it a six-point Brooklyn lead with 6.8 to go. Fournier hit a three, but Aldridge iced it with two free throws. The Nets shot 53 percent from the floor in the second half, while the Knicks shot just 31 percent. Brooklyn outscored New York 67-41 in the second half.

- Quickley played his best game in quite some time. Entering Wednesday, he had missed 18 of his last 20 three-pointers. - against the Nets, he was 4-for-7 from downtown, and finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

- Randle put up 31 points and 10 boards in this one. He's averaging 29.6 points and 12.4 rebounds per game in his last seven.

The Knicks had trouble with Andre Drummond all night long, as he grabbed 19 rebounds without even playing the fourth quarter. In his last eight games against the Knicks, he’s averaging 17 boards per contest.

Meanwhile, Thomas had a breakout performance, scoring 21 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter alone.

Highlights

What's next

The Knicks are off for the All-Star break and will return to action on Friday, Feb. 25 when they host the Miami Heat at 7:30 p.m.