Julius Randle scored 19 of his 26 points in the first half as the New York Knicks led for almost the entire way in a 121-102 rout of the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night in New York.
At 16-11, the Knicks matched a season high by going five games over .500. New York won for the fourth time in six games and also broke a six-game losing streak in Brooklyn with its first road win against the Nets since Dec. 26, 2019.
Randle made 9 of 20 shots and also grabbed seven rebounds.
Donte DiVincenzo added 23 points and hit five of New York’s 13 3-pointers as the Knicks led for the final 46-plus minutes. Reserve Immanuel Quickley contributed 19 points. Jalen Brunson shook off a 6-of-15 showing to contribute 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as the Knicks shot 46.3 percent from the field.
Josh Hart helped out by getting a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The Nets lost for the fifth time in six games as Mikal Bridges struggled all night. Bridges was held to 15 points as he missed his first eight shots and missed 17 of 21 overall.
Cam Thomas and Cameron Johnson scored 20 points apiece as the Nets shot a season-worst 36.6 percent despite hitting 15 threes.
Randle scored 12 points as the Knicks consistently scored inside and held a 32-20 lead after the opening quarter. The Nets were within five with about four minutes left in the first half, and New York held a 60-51 lead by halftime.
The Knicks scored the first 11 points of the third quarter and held a 71-51 lead on Randle’s jumper with 9:18 left. After the Nets got within 84-77 on Nic Claxton’s layup with 2:27 to go, New York grabbed a 90-77 lead heading into the fourth and scored the first eight points of the final period.
New York sealed the victory a few minutes later when Quickley hit treys on consecutive possessions to make it 111-88 with 4:51 remaining.
–Field Level Media