NEW YORK _ On paper, it will go down as a win against the worst team in the league _ a come-from-behind effort Wednesday night sparked by Kristaps Porzingis and the Knicks bench. In reality, it was a frantic effort to avoid complete humiliation at the hands of the Nets, who spent three quarters running circles around their floundering big brothers.
It was a game in which the Knicks shot less than 30 percent for the first half, a game in which Carmelo Anthony was benched in the fourth quarter, and a game that, despite the their 95-90 win, couldn't have felt all that good.
Porzingis scored seven of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and his dunk with 5:42 was the go-ahead basket in a game in which the Knicks trailed by as many as 11 late in the third. Anthony, who didn't play a single second of the fourth, shot 6-for-22, and wasn't the only starter who needed to be put out of his misery. Coach Jeff Hornacek was forced to pull Joakim Noah, who played only 13 minutes and contributed three points and seven rebounds, and Courtney Lee, who also didn't play in the fourth.
It was only the Knicks' sixth win in their last 22 games. Willy Hernangomez scored eight of his 16 points in the fourth, while Sasha Vujacic scored 12, including a four-point play in the second quarter that helped keep the Knicks in the mix. Keyed by Hernangomez and Mindaugas Kuzminskas, the Knicks took off on a 7-2 run to end the third quarter, getting to within 69-64.
Just like everyone else in the league, the Knicks fully benefited from the Nets' inability to close out a game _ something that's become so expected and so routine, it seems wrong to even call them "heartbreakers" anymore. "We're a humble group right now," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said before the game. "I would say we are off Broadway right now and we're trying to get on."
The Nets led the Knicks, 45-38, at halftime in a game that was marked by mental mistakes and sloppy basketball. The Nets outscored the Knicks 30-22 in the paint in the first half and held them to 29.8 percent from the floor. Though "held" might be generous _ the Knicks committed 10 of their 13 turnovers in that span and regularly missed open shots. Caris LeVert, who scored all of 10 of his points in the first half, was the only player to reach double figures in the first half.
The Nets led by as many as 12 in the second quarter before a 10-3 Knicks run, but the Knicks wasted a prime opportunity to gain ground with a little more than three minutes left. Vujacic drew them to within two on a four-point play, and his midcourt steal in the next possession went over to Anthony, who missed an open jumper. The Knicks eventually tied it at 35 with 3:03 to go before the Nets went on their own 10-3 run.
