Allonzo Trier shines in second preseason game as the Knicks win 107-102 in Brooklyn

Allonzo Trier was the rookie that stole the show last night as the New York Knicks defeated the Nets in Brooklyn 107-102 in the second preseason game.

Boxscore

Trier led the Knicks with 25 buckets off the bench and 16 of them being scored in the second quarter, while shooting 8-12 from the field. The rookie from Arizona finished the game with a +/- of +12 in spite of the 5 turnovers he comitted.

“One of the things I’ve been able to do my whole life as a constant is scoring the basketball, making shots.”

– Allonzo Trier

David Fizdale started with the same lineup as he did in the first game (Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. in the backcourt, Kevin Knox and Lance Thomas in the frontcourt and Enes Kanter as the center piece) indicating that he has some clues on how to take on the regular season.

Moreover, the bench was more limited in action time with only five players receiving double digit minutes on the court, which could mean that the rotation is starting to take shape.

The Nets, led by Caris LeVert, who finished with 15 points, challenged the Knicks from the start of the game, going on a 17-2 run to build a 15 point lead in the first act and kept the momentum going into the second quarter for the better part of it.

The wakeup call for New York came soon with several points from the free point line and a 14 feet pullup jump by Trier who cut the lead to just 4 in a span of less than two minutes.

By halftime the Knicks got in control and built a 12 point lead in the third quarter from which point the Nets couldn’t comeback. Their last minutes effort was strong, as they closed in to just one point with 2:26 on the clock, but not strong enough to turn the final score in their favor.

On a side note, Mitchell Robinson sprained his ankle in the fourth quarter after stepping on an opponent’s foot and left the game. His condition is safe but his status is questionable for Friday’s home game against the Pelicans.

Kanter was unstopable in the paint finishing with 22 points and 20 boards including 7 offensive. Frank Ntilikina played 20 minute, scored 9 points and delivered two blocks. Hardaway and Burke scored the same each (nine).

Notes

• The Knicks scored 13 points on fastbreak while the Nets had only four.
• Brooklyn had less turnovers, only 18, against New York’s 25. However, in both cases, each team scored exactly 25 points off their opponent’s TOs.
• On the defensive side, the orange and blue dominated their rivals outblocking them 11-3. The Nets, however, had more steals – (12-8), with Rodions Kurucs managing a game high four – and more assists (21-16).