Home cooking, in more ways than one, proved to be the perfect remedy to the New York Knicks’ mid-season crisis.
The descent of their crosstown rivals brought the Knicks out of their recent stupor, as another Empire State showdown ended in Manhattan’s favor to the tune of a 120-66 shellacking over the Brooklyn Nets at Madison Square Garden.
Six different Knicks reached double-figures in the win, paced by the double-decade from Jalen Brunson and 18 from Landry Shamet on a perfect 6-of-6 output from three-point range. New York (26-18) extended its winning streak in the lasting metropolitan melee to 13, continuing its dominance over the hapless Brooklynites.
The Knicks set a few personal and national landmarks in the win: the 54-point margin of victory was the largest in Knicks history (breaking the prior mark of 48 earned on three occasions, most recently in 1994) and the 66 points allowed were the fewest in any NBA game this year (and the fewest in a Knicks defensive effort since November 2016).
After briefly falling behind early, the Knicks took a permanent lead with a 14-0 run where four different Manhattanites scored. Brooklyn (12-30) only got as a close as seven after that, as a Brunson triple off the feed from Shamet led to an eternal double-figured advantage. The Knicks ended the opening period on a 14-3 run, setting the tone for the blue-and-orange evening.
From there, the contending Knicks put forth a showcase that rivaled those of another New York basketball staple, the Harlem Globetrotters: the lead reached almost-forever 21 when another Shamet assist, this one finding its origin through the interception of a Nolan Traore pass, turned into a showstopping OG Anunoby dunk.
Playing with a condensed nine-man rotation (including a Guerschon Yabusele potentially on the trade block while Jordan Clarkson sat), the Knicks shot a sterling 55 percent from the field, including 50 percent from three while building a 22-point lead for halftime.
Getting the lead up to 30 just after the midway mark of the third allowed the Knicks to preserve their top men, affording the substitutes a chance to show off. All but one of the 14 Knicks that partook wound up scoring while Shamet became just the seventh New Yorker to post a perfect shooting night from three on a minimum of six such tries.
While the Knicks stemmed their bleeding at a four-game losing streak, the Nets went without for the third straight game and their 11th in the 13.
Brooklyn was outrebounded by 29 (eight Knicks pulled in at least four boards) to match its 29 percent output from three-point range and was consoled only by a strong game from Zaire Williams, who had 11 points and two blocks off the bench. Fortunately for the Nets, they don’t have to face the Knicks again until their final meeting of the season on March 20 in Manhattan.
The Knicks will seek their first instance of consecutive victories in the new calendar year on Saturday afternoon when they hit the road to face the Philadelphia 76ers (3 p.m. ET, ABC).
