Jalen Brunson had just nailed a deep 3-pointer with about three minutes left in the third quarter.
Instead of his trademark celebration , he simply just threw his hands in the air in exasperation — a move that could’ve been directed at himself for an off-shooting game or his clear frustration with the officiating.
It was that kind of afternoon for Brunson.
He didn’t play well.
And it didn’t matter.
The Knicks, besieged by injuries, are deep, good and playing for something.
The Nets, losers of six straight after Saturday’s 105-93 loss at the Garden, let go of the rope.
Knicks’ Miles McBride exudes ‘mental toughness’ in stellar 48-minute effort
“They just wanted it more,” Nets interim coach Kevin Ollie said. “You could see that.”
Deuce McBride and Donte DiVincenzo more than made up for Brunson’s misses, combining for 57 points on 10 treys as the Knicks ran away in the fourth quarter.
“We needed it. Both guys hit timely buckets,” Tom Thibodeau said. “Deuce was terrific defensively, because he’s chasing [Cam] Thomas around and Thomas is a load to deal with.”
With Patrick Ewing in the house, McBride played all 48 minutes and dropped 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting.
DiVincenzo added 31 on 12 of 24 shooting, including 13 points in the fourth quarter and a nifty layup in traffic that capped a 12-0 run to give the Knicks a 92-80 lead with eight minutes remaining.
“I wasn’t even paying attention to the score,” DiVincenzo said. “I was just trying to make the right play, be aggressive, and the right play they were giving me [was] space at the rim, and I took advantage of it. I didn’t know the score. I was just trying get stops and play the right way.”
Thibodeau called DiVincenzo’s performance “maybe his best game.”
Knicks switch out Precious Achiuwa for Jericho Sims at backup center spot
“Just timely baskets,” the coach said, “big plays,”
Isaiah Hartenstein also continued his upward trajectory while managing his improving Achilles soreness, finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds while logging 25 minutes.
Brunson only scored 17 points — his lowest total since Jan. 9 (not counting the 47 seconds he played in Cleveland before injuring his leg).
“It says a lot about them and I love the mental toughness of our team, the ability to persevere through things,” Thibodeau said. “When things aren’t going our way, just keep going, then make it go our way and then in the end, find a way to win, whatever it is that we gotta do, that’s what we have to do. And it’s a credit to them. That’s the makeup of these guys and their willingness to commit to play for the team first and put everything they have into it. It says a lot about them.”
The Nets (26-45) stopped fighting in the fourth quarter, folding yet again while getting 18 points from Mikal Bridges.
Brooklyn is a wreck.
It’s playing out the string of a lost season under a lame-duck interim coach and destined for the draft lottery, just one year removed from trading Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
But there’s always extra juice from the upper levels of the organization to topple the Knicks.
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It’s driven by a Younger Sibling Syndrome, the constant reminders in NYC that the Nets are No. 2 in the boroughs, at least in terms of popularity.
That didn’t matter Saturday.
After the Nets dominated the rivalry while Durant wore black, the Knicks now own a five-game winning streak against the team across the Manhattan Bridge.
“It’s frustrating for sure,” Nets forward Cam Johnson said. “We gotta keep him in check. DiVincenzo shot 13 3s, made four of them, but he’s also getting to the rim and scoring in the paint. Those are just possessions we can’t allow.”
Still, the Nets kept it close until the fourth quarter, even tying the score on a Dennis Smith Jr. trey at the start of the final period.
The end of the half was like a circus show.
DiVincenzo nailed an off-balance lay-up/prayer that bounced in from the top of the backboard.
Bridges then swished a 62-footer — not a typo — which he heaved from well before the midcourt logo.
Thomas hit another 3-point buzzer-beater for the Nets to end the third quarter, and it was pretty much all downhill for the visitors after that.
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