Both sides got what they wanted with the Knicks beating the tanking Nets

On By Littum

In another time, in a season to come, we may be inclined to wax poetic about the way this one played out. In another time, in an upcoming season, the Nets will try to stack wins and not losses, will be fighting for playoff seeding and not for a few extra ping-pong balls in the draft lottery this spring.

In the second time — this coming season — we can marvel at the way the Knicks refused to lose Tuesday night, how they squandered every bit of a 13-point third-quarter lead and actually fell behind the Nets with less than three minutes left back. in the game.

And we can get something other than the strange noise that often reverberated through Barclays Center on Tuesday, the sound of frustration embodied by the segment of Knicks fans in the crowd of 17,926 who couldn’t believe the Knicks were in danger of losing this game. with aggressive ambivalence among the Nets fans who REALLY COULDN’T BELIEVE THE KNICKS WERE IN DANGER OF LOSING THIS GAME.

Karl-Anthony Towns makes a shot as Nic Claxton defends in the second half of the Knicks’ 99-95 win over the Nets on Jan. 21, 2025. Jason Szenes / New York Post

But that is for another time.