If one were to close their eyes while at the Knicks-Nets game on Tuesday night, he or she would not have believed they were inside Barclays Center.
Another brutal fourth-quarter flush saw the Nets fall, 108-103, to their intracity rival, a loss that somehow turned more sour as their sold-out home building turned into a road venue.
“You could hear in the crowd, felt like a friggin’ away game when they made their run,” Mikal Bridges said after the Nets’ 11th loss in their past 13 games. “Yes, we got good looks. They got some key buckets. We just got to overcome it, you can’t fold and put our heads down if they make a little run. It’s part of the game, just got to be able to execute after and go out and win.”
After holding an 85-76 lead through the three quarters, the Nets failed to hold on in the fourth.
Julius Randle’s 3-pointer gave the Knicks a 101-100 lead with 2:19 remaining and they never trailed again.
The fourth quarter saw the Nets outscored 32-18 and shoot just 30 percent.
“Let’s go Knicks” roared through the crowd as the Nets crumbled, dropping a winnable game to the Knicks and in front of their fans.
It couldn’t have been easy for the Nets players or head coach Jacque Vaughn to witness a scene nearly as galling as Yankees fans overtaking Citi Field during the Subway Series.
“I feel like any person in here it’s not fun when you feel like you’re in an away game at home,” Bridges said. “So that’s for any person sitting in here, any person alive.”
Bridges, who is in his second year in Brooklyn, is new to the New York rivalry, which may make it sting more especially when playing against four of his former Villanova teammates — Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart and Ryan Arcidiacono.
Spencer Dinwiddie has been with the Nets for 22 of these rivalry games during his nine-year career, from 2016-2020 and again the past two seasons after stints with the Wizards and Mavericks.
The Nets have gone 9-13 in those games and with those under his belt, it wasn’t exactly a surprise to Dinwiddie that Barclays Center turned into MSG Brooklyn.
“Look, I said this even, back in the day, when we were beating them all the time, like they’re still historic,” he said following the game. “The Knicks franchise is one of the most historic franchises, probably third outside the Lakers and Celtics. So, they’re gonna travel well. And maybe Chicago because of [Michael] Jordan.
“They’re gonna travel well. They’re gonna have a global presence. They’re gonna have all those things. Obviously, we feel like we have enough in the locker room to win these games and it being a rivalry, gives an extra emphasis on it and a national TV game. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to pull it out, but there is no secret as to how big their fan base is. Nobody ever questioned that.”
The two are scheduled to play each other twice more this season, at the Garden on March 23 and April 12.
Despite their second loss in a row, the Nets are still confident they can pick themselves up and find a rhythm in the latter half of the season.
“[Winning will] help everybody feel better,” said Cam Johnson. “It’s a gut-punch every time. You know, we’re 17-26. You think about how many should’ve been flipped pretty easily,” he said. “There’s a fine line between winning and losing in this league — like very fine. And you don’t want to catch yourself on the wrong side of it.
“Some teams really succeed in their ability to close out games. And some teams, maybe 85 percent of their issues come down to not closing out games. So we need to find ourselves on the other side because we’re putting ourselves in position [in] 40 of these games to win. That’s what it comes down to.”
