Just 36 hours after a tough 113-110 loss to the defending champion Denver Nuggets in Colorado, the Knicks turned to defense when their offense wasn’t working.
They limited the Nets to just 16 points in the fourth quarter to prevent them from reaching the century mark by scoring for their league-leading 22nd game, holding their opponents under 100 points.
“I knew this game was going to be a challenge to come out of the way like we did,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau later told reporters. “We just had to find a way to win, and we did.”
The Knicks were coming off a 3-1 road trip on the West Coast and have won four of their last five games to join the fourth-place Orlando Magic on the East Coast.
With 12 games remaining, the Knicks (42-28) are just three games out of the second seed, currently held by the Milwaukee Bucks 45-25.