{"id":668713,"date":"2026-03-20T12:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T12:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/668713\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T12:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T12:56:16","slug":"game-preview-knicks-at-nets-march-20-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/668713\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Preview: Knicks at Nets, March 20, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The New York Knicks (45*-25) face the Brooklyn Nets (17-52) tonight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Over their last 10 games, the Knicks have gone 7-3, while the Nets have won twice (one against Detroit, one against Memphis). The last meeting between the Knicks and Nets came on January 21, 2026. The Knicks won, 120 to 66, on January 21, holding Brooklyn to the lowest single-game point total of the NBA season. Jalen Brunson led the team with 20 points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Nets have had a dismal season, ranking near the bottom in most offensive categories. They sit last in points per game at 106.6 and offensive rating, with poor shooting efficiency including 44% from the field (30th). They rank 27th in both three-point accuracy (34%) and defensive rating. All adds up to: no bueno.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Michael Porter Jr. has been the Nets\u2019 top scorer at 24.2 points per game and making 3.4 triples per game. He sat out of Wednesday\u2019s game against the Thunder due to an ankle issue. Nic Claxton anchors the frontcourt with 11.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game, while Noah Clowney provides 12.5 points and 4.1 rebounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Nets have several players sidelined or doubtful for tonight\u2019s tilt. Ben Saraf (foot), Noah Clowney (wrist), and Michael Porter Jr. (ankle) are game-time decisions, while Egor Demin (foot) and Day\u2019Ron Sharpe (thumb) are out for the season. Tonight they are likely start rookie point guard Nolan Traor\u00e9 (8.3 PPG, 3 AST) alongside Drake Powell, Danny Wolf, Clowney, and Claxton.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson is day-to-day and Miles McBride remains out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">ESPN gives the Knicks an 88% chance to win. Did you expect any less? Unfortunately, our Knicks have a troubling tendency to play down to their opponents. They won\u2019t tonight. Watch for New York to exert their dominance early, run up the score, and let the starters eat popcorn through most of the second half. Further, this is a prime opportunity to rest Brunson for a second game and let Jose Alvarado run the offense in the borough of his birth\u2014and to let the bench guys air out their legs, showing us what they can do as the playoffs approach on the horizon. I\u2019ll be attending my uncle\u2019s funeral, but probably won\u2019t miss anything interesting. Enjoy this Knicks win without me, fans. New York by a dozen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Who: New York Knicks (45*-25) at Brooklyn Nets (17-52)<br \/>Date: Friday, March 20, 2026<br \/>Time: 7:30 PM ET<br \/>Place: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY<br \/>TV: MSG<br \/>Follow: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ptknicksblog\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@ptknicksblog<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/postingandtoasting.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">bsky<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">* Should be one more, but NBA Cup wins smell funny.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Knicks (45*-25) face the Brooklyn Nets (17-52) tonight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Over their&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,16315,6,671],"class_list":["post-668713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn-nets","tag-basketball","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-brooklynnets","tag-knicks-game-previews","tag-nba","tag-nets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=668713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}