Landry Shamet came off the bench to score 29 points, and the short-handed New York Knicks rode a 17-0 third-quarter run to hold off the host Brooklyn Nets 113-105 in the regular-season finale for both teams Sunday.
New York (51-31), already locked into the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed for the playoffs, played without stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson, the latter of whom recently returned from injury. Mikal Bridges extended his consecutive games streak to 556, but only after appearing for the first six seconds vs. the Nets (26-56).
The remaining Knicks rallied without the core of their starting lineup, but not without trailing for much of the first half.
Brooklyn led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter before New York came roaring back.
Trailing 79-70 in the third quarter, the Knicks began a deluge that flipped the game, starting with Cameron Payne’s free throw and Miles McBride’s quick bucket after a Nic Claxton technical foul.
McBride and Payne combined to score the first 10 points in New York’s 17-0 run, which proved to be decisive. The Knicks led the rest of the way, though Brooklyn remained in striking distance with all five of its starters scoring in double figures.
Tyrese Martin and Trendon Watford each scored 20 points to lead the Nets, and both grabbed seven rebounds. Jalen Wilson scored 18 points, Keon Johnson added 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Claxton scored 12 points and Drew Timme came off the bench to score 11.
New York countered with effective 3-point shooting from Shamet, who knocked down 7 of 13 shots from beyond the arc, and Payne’s 3-of-7 effort from deep. Payne finished with 21 points.
McBride scored 17 points and dished eight assists, while Precious Achiuwa finished with 18 points. Every Knick who played save for Bridges and Anton Watson scored at least four points.
The loss capped Brooklyn’s worst season since going 20-62 in 2016-17. New York, meanwhile, prepares to host Detroit in the first round of the playoffs.
–Field Level Media
