The Knicks lost another heartthrob on Monday night, falling to a heavily depleted Nets team 114-112 despite having a 14-point lead in the game.
The Nets started the game without Kevin Durant (hamstring) and Blake Griffin (knee), and saw James Harden leave four minutes in the game with some hamstring strain that kept him out of two games there. last week.
The Knicks took advantage early on, leaping to the lead and taking the lead to 10 points in the first half. But the Nets – and, more preciously, Kyrie Irving – are back.
Irving earned 40 points for the Nets to keep them afloat after Harden crashed and eventually came back to take an eight-point lead in the fourth.
Although the Knicks managed to fight back to level things at 112, Jeff Green took down two free throws with 3.7 seconds left to leave the final shot to someone on the blue and orange side of New York.
Julius Randle, who was great in the night with a triple double, took an 18-foot fade jumper to the buzzer to try to send the game into OT, but hit the back edge and out.
“I just want to be on the other side, on the side of the winners,” RJ Barrett said after the defeat.
And this is the biggest mistake of the Knicks season: not swapping one closer or acquiring one in free agency.