Jalen Brunson was held to 17 points but delivered the go-ahead basket with 2:18 remaining for the visiting New York Knicks, struggled on offense for most of the fourth quarter before making enough plays down the stretch in a 99-95 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
Brunson missed 10 of his first 14 shots before hitting three baskets and scoring eight points in the last 2:18 to give New York a ninth straight win over the Nets.
His first clutch hoop was a 13-footer from near the baseline that gave the Nets a 91-90 lead off a feed from Karl Anthony-Towns. Brunson added a layup through traffic off a pass from Josh Hart for a 93-90 edge with 1:56 remaining.
After Brooklyn’s Keon Johnson hit two free throws, Brunson sank a jumper from near the foul line to make it 95-92 with 1:25 left. Following a dunk by New York’s OG Anunoby, D’Angelo Russell hit a 3-pointer to bring Brooklyn within 97-95 with 52 seconds left.
Brunson had a chance to clinch it but missed a runner in the lane with 32.3 seconds to go. After Brooklyn took its final timeout with 23 seconds remaining, the Nets’ Cameron Johnson missed a deep 3-point attempt from the top of the key with 15.3 seconds left. Brunson sank two free throws with seven seconds remaining to ice it.
Towns amassed 25 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists. Anunoby added 20 points for the Knicks, who earned the win despite scoring only 15 points in the fourth.
Russell led the Nets with 23 and 10 assists but shot 6-for-17 from the floor. Cameron Johnson added 13 points but was 6-for-20 from the field. Brooklyn shot 37.2 percent, lost its eighth straight home game and fell for the ninth time in 10 games overall.
The game marked the return of Mikal Bridges to Brooklyn after the Nets dealt him to the Knicks for five first-round picks last summer. Bridges was held to 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Towns finished off a three-point play with 4.7 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Knicks a 59-51 halftime lead. The Knicks opened a 76-64 advantage on Hart’s layup with 4:46 left in the third quarter before taking an 84-75 lead into the fourth.
–Field Level Media
