Game Thread: New York Knicks @ Brooklyn Nets 7:30pm 1/13/2016

The New York Knicks haven't owned a winning record in almost two months. Getting there might require overcoming Carmelo Anthony's absence.

While Anthony's status is unknown, the Knicks look to continue their surge and send the Brooklyn Nets to an 11th straight home loss Wednesday night.

New York (20-20) has followed a four-game slide by winning six of eight. The Knicks have a chance to move above .500 for the first time since they were 8-7 following a loss at Miami on Nov. 23.

They may have to do it without Anthony, who suffered a sprained right ankle when he ran into a referee heading up the floor before halftime of Tuesday's 120-114 win over Boston. He left 19 seconds into the third quarter and X-rays were negative.

New York also won despite Kristaps Porzingis, who finished with 26 points, fouling out in the fourth quarter.

"There's turning points in seasons, and I think this is a good turning point for us," said forward Derrick Williams, who had 15 points and a season-high 10 rebounds. "When KP fouls out and Melo got injured, things like that happen. It's a team effort, and it gives those guys confidence in us that we can pull out games even when they're not on the court."

That confidence will be vital if Anthony is out. He leads the team with 21.6 points per game and had 28 in a 108-91 home win over the Nets on Dec. 4 after the Knicks lost all four matchups last season.

Porzingis contributed 19 points and 10 rebounds. The rookie forward is averaging 23.0 points on 52.0 percent from the floor - 8 for 21 from beyond the arc - over the last three games.

The Knicks have split six visits to Brooklyn, losing the last two after falling 92-88 on Feb. 6. However, they should like their chances this time since the Nets (10-28) have lost 10 straight for their longest slide at Barclays Center.

It's also the second-longest in franchise history. They dropped 14 in a row in New Jersey from Jan. 29-March 22, 2010.

The current losing streak was in no danger of ending Monday when the Nets were thumped 106-79 by San Antonio, one day after the firings of general manager Billy King and coach Lionel Hollins.

"We ran into a sledgehammer of a team," interim coach Tony Brown said. "They definitely know how to play together and that's something we're going to strive and try to do here."

Brook Lopez was again a bright spot, averaging a team-high 19.7 points and 8.5 rebounds. He led the way with 18 points against the Spurs, while the rest of the starters combined for 35.

The center has averaged 23.0 points on 55.4 percent shooting over his last five home meetings with New York. He scored 22 while adding nine rebounds and six blocks off the bench Feb. 6.

Brown may opt to start Wayne Ellington and Donald Sloan in the back court again, but they combined for 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting Monday. Sloan got the nod ahead of Shane Larkin, who started the previous four games after Jarrett Jack was lost for the season with a torn ACL.

(nba.com)

Melo is out.

Thanks for another great game thread, Rady.

We just need to come out and win this one. This is a big trap game. Brooklyn's season is a loss, in particular without a first round pick, so the only joy they can get is trying to beat us. On top of that, they are actually playing well lately. This game is the difference between us having a winning and losing record at the halfway point of the season.

Lance Thomas starts with Melo out. We are 0 - 2 in the two games Melo has missed this season.

They just said that the Nets starting backcourt is Sloan and Ellington. That's pretty terrible.

This starting lineup doesn't look good together at all right now without Melo. Down 5 early.

Galloway first man off the bench so that Fisher can get Porzingis off the court early, as per the usual rotation schedule lately.

Brook Lopez sits. He is this Nets team right now. We need to get something going with Brook off the court. Here comes Jerian Grant. Can he do it 2 nights in the row?

Galloway attacks on 3 straight possessions which leads to an acrobatic layup, an awful turnover, and a made bank shot jumper, which may or may not have been on purpose. Maybe he feels the heat from Grant's play last night and wants to be aggressive with his minutes tonight.

htr10 said:

Galloway attacks on 3 straight possessions which leads to an acrobatic layup, an awful turnover, and a made bank shot jumper, which may or may not have been on purpose. Maybe he feels the heat from Grant's play last night and wants to be aggressive with his minutes tonight.

Click to expand...

Yeah, but that second made shot was a selfish ball hog move... Lopez set a pick and rolled to hoop... Wide open... Easy dunk... LG ignored him. Not good.

Knicks not fouled once in first quarter... They only score 20... I think we foolishly believe we'll win this game simply for showing up. No effort on offense. Nets bench scrub comes in and hits 3 threes... 29-20 after 1.

Knicks look like they emptied tank last night. Down 11... Nets ball.

We can't hit anything right now... Grant already clanked 2 layups and 2 FTs...

Well, Fisher heard the fans' pleas. Finally, the return of Vujacic.

Jokes aside. Derrick Williams going berserk in the 2nd quarter. We'd be dead in the water without him. Amazing sequence where he has scored 9 points in 2 and a half minutes punctuated with a thunderous dunk.

KP hasn't scored... Williams sets him up and he missed a dunk... Leads to Nets fastbreak.

If not for DW we would be down by 15 points.

Just call DWill coast to coast.

Risky, but beautiful, feed from Grant to set up Porzingis with the easy 2. Porzingis then trails on the break and cleans the glass after a blocked Grant layup for the and-1 to cut the lead all the way down to 1.

Porzingis making other things happen on the court, but his poor shooting is killing our offensive flow. Derrick Williams has put us on his back though with probably one of the best quarters of his career.

This is ugly all around. 38-39. Knicks are 15-35 shooting. KP already 2-9...

Robin Lopez has hit 3 straight shots and has 8 points in the quarter, but our perimeter defense is so terrible at this point that the Nets keep getting the lead back late in the 2nd quarter.

Brook Lopez will be 30 when his current contract ends at the end of the 2017-18 season. If by some miracle, he is still healthy and effective by then, I wonder how good the chances are that he will want to join his brother with us. Just something that I've been pondering while watching this sloppy game.