Nets’ brutal new reality exposed again; clear No.1 emerges amid more MVP magic — NBA Wrap

As Jay-Z as soon as mentioned, the town is beneath new administration.

The Knicks bought higher on the commerce deadline and the Nets bought considerably worse. That was apparent Monday night time (Tuesday AEDT), the most effective gamers now residing on Broadway moderately than in Brooklyn.

Without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, the Nets are now not title contenders. They might not even be adequate to keep away from the play-in spherical of the playoffs. The Knicks showcased their new-found superiority over their metropolis rivals, coasting to a 124-106 victory on the Garden to maneuver inside two video games of the fifth-place Nets.

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They are additionally now only a half-game behind the Heat for sixth with one sport left, in Atlanta towards the Hawks on Wednesday, earlier than the nine-day All-Star break.

The Knicks snapped a nine-game shedding streak to the Nets in emphatic style, as Jalen Brunson was by far the most effective participant on the ground, exploding for 40 factors on 15 of 21 taking pictures together with 5 assists and no turnovers. New addition Josh Hart continued to impress as a Knick, including 27 factors together with 5 rebounds, and Julius Randle chipped in 18 factors, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.

The Nets, in the meantime, fell to 1-2 because the beautiful Durant commerce to the Suns, and have been run off the court docket within the ultimate 17 minutes. They held a two-point lead with 5:07 left within the third quarter, and have been promptly outscored, 41-20, over the subsequent 13 minutes.

With 4:15 left, Nets coach Jacque Vaughn threw up the flag, emptying his bench. His staff managed simply 45 second-half factors and shot 40 per cent from the sector over the ultimate 24 minutes. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 28 for the Nets (33-24), however was held to eight after halftime.

The Knicks (32-27) made Dinwiddie appear like a star within the first half, permitting the Nets guard to go off for 20 factors on 12 pictures in a disjointed opening 24 minutes. He poured in 13 factors within the second quarter, together with a pair of 3-pointers.

The Knicks completed the primary quarter and began the second nicely, placing collectively an 18-5 run that included seven factors from Hart. But they couldn’t maintain it in a second quarter that noticed them out-rebounded by six and permit 4 offensive rebounds.

It was an isolation-heavy half for the Knicks, who managed simply six assists and have been continuously stagnant, taking too lengthy to get into their first motion. They solely tried 5 free throws, 10 fewer than the visiting and much more aggressive Nets.

Brunson and Randle mixed for 33 factors on 13 of 23 taking pictures, whereas everybody else was held to 25 factors. Barrett was one of many important culprits, not solely taking pictures 0-for-5, however failing to file a rebound, help or steal.

The ball moved significantly better to start out the third quarter for the Knicks — that they had three assists over the primary 3:06 — and it translated right into a 12-2 run. They additionally completed the interval robust, because the Villanova boys — Brunson and Hart — scored 11 of the staff’s final 14 factors. Brunson, in the midst of a heater, hit a step-back 3-pointer within the ultimate seconds, sending the Knicks to the ultimate quarter with a 10-point lead. At that time, he had 36 factors on 14 of 19 taking pictures and 6 made 3s in eight makes an attempt.

This article was initially revealed on the New York Post and republished with permission.

JOKIC JUST MISSES FEAT BUT NUGGETS EXTEND LEAD

Nikola Jokic narrowly missed out on his twenty first triple double of the season because the Denver Nuggets battled to a 112-108 street victory over the Miami Heat.

Two-time NBA MVP Jokic completed with 27 factors, 12 rebounds and eight assists as Denver stretched their lead on the high of the Western Conference to 5 video games.

Denver, who improved to 40-18, trailed by 9 factors after a shaky first quarter however roared again within the second to outscore Miami 38-26 for a slender 65-62 lead on the break.

The Nuggets held on to benefit lead for a lot of the second half and though Miami bought inside three factors within the ultimate minute, Denver held on for victory.

While Jokic led the scoring, Denver’s balanced offence unfold the factors round with seven gamers ending in double figures and sharing 34 assists between them.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 17 factors whereas Bruce Brown had 16. “I think we like to play for each other,” Jokic mentioned afterwards. “We try to find open guys and we’re just going to work for the best shot possible.

“The team buys into that and that’s why I think we have so many assists,” the Serbian star mentioned.

Jimmy Butler led Miami’s scorers with 24 factors, 10 rebounds and 9 assists whereas Max Strus had 23 factors and Bam Adebayo 19.

Elsewhere on Monday, Donovan Mitchell erupted for 41 factors because the Cleveland Cavaliers bagged their seventh straight win with a gritty 117-109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Mitchell’s sixth 40-point sport of the season helped the Cavs tighten their grip on fourth place within the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland at the moment are 38-22 for the season, main fifth-placed Brooklyn, who have been thumped 124-106 by the New York Knicks earlier Monday.

Jarrett Allen (17 factors) and Darius Garland (16) have been Cleveland’s different principal scorers whereas Keldon Johnson led the scoring for San Antonio with 25 factors.

“The biggest thing is just continuing to fight,” Mitchell mentioned afterwards. “We didn’t play our best basketball, regardless of how San Antonio’s been playing, they made it tough on us.

“You’ve got to give the credit for their performance but at the end of the day we found a way to execute and that’s big time.”

Cleveland will now look forward to their ultimate sport earlier than this weekend’s All-Star break, with a street conflict towards Eastern Conference rivals Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Mitchell believes the 76ers may have added motivation after the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl defeat to Kansas City on Sunday.

“That’s going to be a playoff game in a hostile environment,” Mitchell mentioned. “They just lost the Super Bowl so they’ll probably be a little bit fired up over there.

“We’ve got to go out there and hold our own and play the basketball we’ve been playing.” The Sixers in the meantime warmed up for his or her date with the Cavs with a 123-104 blowout over the Houston Rockets earlier Monday.

James Harden led the Sixers scoring towards his former membership with 28 factors and 10 assists whereas Tyrese Maxey impressed with 26 factors off the bench after making 4-of-8 from past the arc.

Sixers talisman Joel Embiid added 23 factors whereas Jalen Green led the Rockets with 29 factors.

The Sixers are only one sport forward of the in-form Cavaliers heading into Wednesday’s sport.

NBA SCORES for Tuesday February 14

Hawks 138, Hornets 144

Spurs 109, Cavaliers 117

Jazz 123, Pacers 117

Rockets 104, Sixers 123

Nuggets 112, Heat 108

Nets 106, Knicks 124

Magic 100, Bulls 91

Pelicans 103, Thunder 100

Timberwolves 124, Mavericks 121

Wizards 126, Warriors 135

Lakers 115, Trail Blazers 127