When things are going the way they\u2019ve been going for the Knicks, can you ever definitively say you\u2019re confident in them to win, regardless of opponent?<\/p>\n
Yes, on paper, it was more likely the Knicks (26-18) would embarrass the Nets (12-30) by biblical margins than it was for them to manage to lose, especially when fully healthy. But after whatever the hell happened on MLK Day (and in Sacramento), the offense\u2019s recent short-circuiting, and the fact that Cam Thomas has a penchant for scoring in bunches against the Knicks, I was worried.<\/p>\n
Maybe I should\u2019t have been. Some things transcend slumps and horrifically bad vibes.<\/p>\n
When one team owns another the way the Knicks do to the Nets, they\u2019ll win no matter what. This effect was reversed a few years ago, as the Nets, in the midst of their ten-game winning streak against the Knicks, came back from a 21-point halftime deficit despite missing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons. Sometimes, you just own a team.<\/p>\n
Nic Claxton would know, that\u2019s 13 straight.<\/p>\n
Every so often, we get a game that makes you dig deep into the Statmuse files. Let\u2019s see what we can get from this historic, 54-point drubbing:<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the largest margin of victory in franchise history. For a team that\u2019s now played 6,231 games since 1946, that\u2019s a lot. It breaks a three-way tie of games in 1968, 1972, and 1994, all 48-point wins.The Knicks led by 59 in the final minute before the Nets scored five to end the game. That 59-point lead is probably the largest in franchise history, but we only have concrete data in the last 30-ish years. Looking at the box scores of the pre-play-by-play era games, I don\u2019t think an anyone got to 60.It\u2019s the second-largest margin of victory by an NBA team this season. The Hornets destroyed the Jazz, 150-95, 11 days ago. The Knicks would\u2019ve had this one, but Danny Wolf had to statpad with 10 seconds left. Alas!The Knicks last allowed 66 points or fewer on April 13, 2012, when they smacked the Wizards 103-65. Wizards\u2019 leading scorer? Jordan Crawford (who went 6-for-20 from the field).The Nets are the first NBA team to score fewer than 70 points since\u2026 them last season (67). Last one to score less than that was the Mavericks on November 18, 2016, losing a disgusting 80-64 game to Memphis. Who remembers the 79-73 a few years ago?The Nets last scored this few points on March 12, 2005. In case you forgot, team\u2019s score more in like four minutes now than they did in whole quarters 20 years ago.For reference, with 66 points, the Knicks have had 21 halves this season where they\u2019ve put up 66 points. They\u2019ve also allowed 10, with six coming since Christmas (yikes)The Knicks have won 13 straight games against the Nets. It\u2019s the longest streak in the rivalry\u2019s history and is quickly rivaling the streak the Knicks had against the Pistons from 2020-24 of 16 straight.<\/p>\n
120-66 is such a ridiculous score. It\u2019s happened once before in NBA history, but it\u2019s a score you\u2019re more likely to see in non-conference college basketball. In November 2024, UMass Lowell beat<\/a> NAIA Fisher College, 121-66. That\u2019s a bunch of Division I athletes destroying a non-NCAA school. This just shouldn\u2019t happen in the NBA with 15 of the best 450 players in the world on each bench.<\/p>\n There\u2019s not much to say about the game itself. The only time the Nets looked anything other than total dog poo was when Egor Demin nailed two threes early. From what I\u2019ve seen so far, the No. 8 overall pick has by far the best chance of becoming a solid NBA starter of the five first-round picks the Nets had this year. He\u2019s shown some advanced playmaking, and the BYU product is a sneaky good shooter.<\/p>\n What I really liked about how the Knicks started this game was the way they involved Karl-Anthony Towns early. The struggling big man finished with just 14 points in 20 minutes and still had some bewildering offensive fouls, but in a situation where he needed to come out and perform, he got off to a good start to quickly put the team up by double digits.<\/p>\n Jalen Brunson only had 20-5-4 in a team-high 31 minutes and went 1-for-8 from three, yet we won by 54, so who cares? It was a quiet game for OG Anunoby and a meh game from Mikal Bridges, but again, who cares? It was the Landry Shamet show, baby!<\/p>\n