As the Knicks made their way through three days off to prepare for Sunday night’s game against the Nets, they spoke about keeping their focus on a team that was once a rival but now in a deep rebuild.
“I don’t even know how Brooklyn’s doing this year. I don’t know if they’re winning, losing, whatever it is,” Josh Hart said.
When it was pointed out that they had lost seven of eight games to start the season, he added, “Oh, they’re losing? For us, it’s always about focusing on what the team is. If you’re in the NBA you’re capable of making good decisions and knocking down shots. If you don’t respect guys in the league, that’s when you’re going to find yourself on the losing column of games you should be winning. So we try not to focus too much on what other teams are doing and just focus more on ourselves. We’ve got a lot of room to grow. Brooklyn’s the next test and whoever after that.”
The Knicks seemed to do that just fine, playing their game as they continued to show off a potent and diverse offense. They easily coasted past the Nets, 134-98, for their fourth straight win, improving to 6-0 at Madison Square Garden and 6-3 overall.
The numbers were ridiculous. Mitchell Robinson was a plus-40 in just 16:36 of action. Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 12 rebounds. Jalen Brunson was a plus-36 with 19 points and seven assists and OG Anunoby added 19 points, eight rebounds and stifling defense. By the eight-minute mark in the fourth quarter, Knicks coach Mike Brown had begun reaching to the far end of the bench.
It took little time to show that the Knicks’ focus on themselves was work well done — jumping out to an 8-0 lead. The Knicks piled up 77 points in the first half — giving them 160 over the last four quarters after an 83-point second half against Minnesota Wednesday. The only flaw in the first half was the defense that seemed to sag, allowing 62 points to a Nets squad already seemingly in search of another lottery pick to add to the five first-round picks selected in the most recent draft.
The Knicks corrected that at halftime, continuing to pour it on offensively with no mercy while clamping down on the defensive end — this time starting the half with a 12-0 run before the Nets finally got on the board after a technical foul by Towns. The Knicks stretched the lead to as many as 37 points in the third quarter, outscoring the Nets 35-17 in the period. The lead stretched to as many as 39 before Brown put all five of his starters on the bench.
“I think we’re growing as a team,” Brunson said. “It was definitely a problem for us last year — third quarters, especially the playoffs, were not our friend. So we’re trying to address it as best we can. It starts with the little things.”
“I think you have to definitely worry about yourself,” Brown said. “There’s just too many games to think about all the different schemes that your opponents may do and all that other stuff. So try to focus on yourself on both ends of the floor and all stuff so you have a foundation. My opinion, really critical to the success that you can have in this league, especially in the regular season. Playoffs, you have more time to hone in on really trying to make adjustments throughout the course of the game, really try to throw a trick thing in, and all that other stuff. At this point in the season, especially, you have to focus on yourselves.”
By not thinking about the opposition, Brown also was free to run up the score on the Nets, who are coached by Jordi Fernandez, who was a key member of Brown’s staff in Sacramento.
“It’s great. I’m just happy for him and his family,” Brown said. “He’s got a lovely family. Great young coach. He’s got a young team obviously so they’ve gotta figure some things out. Any time I get a chance to see him, I always love to see him. But I want to kick his [butt].”
Said Fernandez, “I wouldn’t be here without Mike Brown. That’s all I can say. A lot of love as a person, coach, mentor and today is a special game but at the same time it’s just a game where we’ll try to go out there play really hard and try to beat them, and I’m pretty sure they’ll try to do the same thing.
“He brought me from Spain to the US. So I wouldn’t have been here literally without him. He also hired me as an associate head coach, I think it was a big platform for me to get a job as a head coach as well. So, it’s not just those two moments but a long relationship and learning from somebody like him who was very successful and a great, great person.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.