On December 1, Beijing time, two teams from New York met at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to play the first New York derby of the season. With the Knicks' rise last season and the Nets missing Irving this season, the New York derby is no longer a one-sided showdown. Just like this battle between the two sides this season, the two teams continued to fight until the last round, when the Nets won the derby by beating the Knicks 112-110 with free throws.
"I've been here for the second season and I feel like no matter who we have on our team, who they have, the energy on the field is the same," Harden said, "Whether it's playing here or madison, the fans are always going to cheer a lot, so it feels good every game." And tonight we finally won and felt even happier. ”
Before the game began, both the Nets and Knicks had their own problems. On the Nets side, Joe Harris has been on the sidelines since spraining his ankle in mid-November. Just before the game against the Knicks began, the Nets officially announced that Joe Harris had bone particles in his ankle that had to be removed through surgery, and that Harris would need to rest for 4 to 8 weeks after undergoing surgery. It was also because Harris was on the off-limit that the Nets, who lacked outside firepower, withdrew Griffin in the last two games, allowing Aldridge to enter the starting lineup.
The Knicks side also has lineup changes and changes. Kemba Walker, who joined this summer, has been inefficient at both ends of the season since the start of the season, and his average scores and assists per game have not only slipped to a new career low, but also the defense has been repeatedly targeted by opponents. So before the game began, Knicks coach Thibodeau announced that Walker would be "deprecated" and that his starting position would be replaced by Alec Box.
Judging from the game, Box also proved that Thibodeau's decision was correct. As the Knicks' starting point guard, Box showed full ability, shooting the team's most four three-pointers, scoring a team-high 25 points, and five rebounds and five assists, fully demonstrating why he deserved this starting position.
However, the Nets' star quality is obviously higher than the Knicks, although there is no Harris and Irving, but Durant and Harden still make it difficult for opponents to guard. In particular, Harden, before the game with the Knicks, Harden averaged only 15.3 points per game in the previous 3 games, and only shot 4 of 17 from outside the three-point line. However, facing such a key opponent as the Knicks, Harden quickly entered the offensive state from the beginning of the game, handing over a total of 34 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.
Durant, who started a bit slowly, found his touch in the second half of the game, especially in the last 5 minutes and 45 seconds of the game, Durant scored 11 points alone, and finally handed over 27 points and 9 assists. It is also because of Durant's recovery of form that the Knicks chose to pinch Durant in advance in the final round of the game and did not give him the opportunity to shoot the kill. Durant was also calm, and instead of forcing a shot, he found an unguarded James Johnson, who directly hit the basket and caused a foul on the opponent's inside Mitchell Robinson. It was also with James Johnson's last 2.2 seconds of free throws that the Nets held the home court and won the New York derby.
Knicks' Randall also contributed 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, but he only got 2 free throws in the game, which made the Knicks core unhappy with the referee's blowing penalty. Throughout the game, the Nets scored 25 free throws, while the Knicks had just 12. After the game, Randall continued to talk to the referee, and was eventually pulled away by his teammates and coaches.
"I went back and wanted to take a good look at the footage because there was a big difference between the two sides on the free throws," Thibodeau said after the game, "Julius (Randle) made several attempts at the basket and he only got 2 free throws. ”