Nets not ‘prepared’ for latest loss to Knicks

Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks kept the slumping Nets at a safe distance throughout Wednesday’s blowout win at Madison Square Garden. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

Following his team’s eighth loss in nine games and 13th in a row to the East River rival New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernández insisted that he had no one to blame but himself.

“Yeah, it was my fault. I didn’t prepare them well enough to play,” he fumed in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday’s humbling 120-66 defeat in front of 19,812 fans at Madison Square Garden, most of whom relished watching the largest margin of victory in Knicks history.

Brooklyn (12-30) fell behind by 18 points after one quarter and trailed by as many as 59 late in the fourth.

That deficit would have matched the franchise-worst 126-67 defeat the Nets suffered at the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 15, 2025 if not for a pair of inconsequential hoops by Terance Mann and rookie Danny Wolf before the final buzzer.

The Nets scored 20 points in the opening period, but failed to reach that total in any of the remaining three quarters, settling for 10 over the final 12 minutes.

“I have to help them better,” Fernández added. “In the last 12 games,  we’ve been poor defensively, poor offensively. 

“And that falls on me. Players are not responsible for it. So I gotta make sure that they understand the values that we have and how we want to play, and we’ll work to get that.”

The Knicks (26-18) stepped on the hardwood looking to avoid more embarrassment of their own.

New York had lost nine of its previous 11, including four in a row, before running past the Nets from the opening tip.

Jalen Brunson scored 20 points and Landry Shamet came off the bench to add 18, all of which came on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting performance from 3-point range.

Knicks sharp-shooter Landy Shamet literally couldn’t miss from long range Wednesday, burying all six of his 3-pointers against Brooklyn. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 14 points for New York, which held a players’ only meeting following Monday’s blowout loss to visiting Dallas.

Perhaps it’s time for the Nets to rally around their second-year coach, who remained steadfast in defending them despite watching the Knicks shoot 57% percent from the field, including 50% (16-of-32) from beyond the arc.

New York outrebounded Brooklyn by a whopping 56-27 margin, scored 18 points off Nets turnovers and beat Fernández’s sluggish unit 29-4 on the fast break.

“Players gotta move on, find a way … this is a tough one, but show up the next day and have positive energy and work and get better and go out there and compete,” Fernández conceded.

The Knicks’ ongoing mastery of the Nets is the longest winning streak in the history of the series, which dates back to 1976. 

Brooklyn hasn’t topped New York since Jan. 28, 2023, meaning it will be well over three years when the teams meet for the final time this season on March 20.

Fernández has only been around for the last seven of those losses, including a 134-98 defeat at the Garden on Nov. 9.

All three this year have been against his former coaching mentor in Sacramento, Mike Brown, who helped pave the way for his first head-coaching job in our borough.

Despite their kinship and long-standing friendship, Brown didn’t take his foot off the gas when the game was well-decided entering the fourth quarter.

Fernández still isn’t willing to admit that New York is simply a bad matchup for Brooklyn, be it this year, next or over the past three seasons.

“I don’t know. I disagree with you,” he told a reporter who brought up the recent series history.

“Yeah, we’ve had two really bad losses, but I don’t think my analytics people would say (that). I don’t have enough (of a) sample size to give that answer, so… probably we can… agree to disagree.”

Michael Porter Jr. led the Nets with 12 points despite a dismal 4-of-14 shooting effort. 

Ziaire Williams was the only other Brooklyn player to reach double figures in scoring with 11, and most of those came in extended garbage time.

After a rousing 7-4 run through December, the Nets have reverted to the habits that saw them open the season 3-16.

They have lost 10 of 12 in the new year and will try to stop that trend Friday night at Barclays Center vs. Boston before embarking on a five-game road trip.

“You gotta give them credit, they were the most physical team,” Fernández said of Brown’s Knicks. “They were the best team out there and we’ve got to learn from it and move on. I got a lot to figure out,”

Tip-off against the Celtics in Downtown Brooklyn is slated for 7:30 p.m. 

The game will air locally on the YES Network.

Michael Porter Jr. and the Nets will try to end their recent malaise when they host the Boston Celtics at Barclays Center on Friday night. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II

NOTHING BUT NET: The Nets finished 11-for-40 from long range after opening with 14 misses on their first 18 3-point attempts. Brooklyn shot 29% (23-for-79) overall. … The Knicks’ bench accounted for 59 points, just seven less than Brooklyn’s entire roster. … Former Net Miles Bridges chipped in 11 points in 25 minutes. … Cam Thomas returned to action after sitting out Monday’s loss to Phoenix due to load management issues, but only managed five points on 1-of-6 shooting in 16 minutes off the pine. … After hosting the Celtics, the Nets will open their extended road trip, which goes through three time zones, Sunday night in Los Angeles vs. the Clippers. 

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