Knicks' Jalen Brunson hits late go-ahead trey, Mikal Bridges makes last-second block to seal victory over Nets
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacts after making the go-ahead shot as Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith looks on at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Mikal Bridges’ Knicks tenure has been inconsistent since the Nets traded him during the summer.
But when he faced his former team for the first time Friday, Bridges got back in alignment.
He had his best game of the season, scoring 22 points and getting the final say in the Knicks’ 124-122 win by blocking Dennis Schroder’s potential tying layup just before time expired. Bridges was swarmed by his new teammates as his old teammates dropped their heads in disbelief.
Bridges’ block followed Jalen Brunson’s go-ahead three-pointer with 6.2 seconds left in the NBA Cup game at the Garden. Schroder had given the Nets a 122-121 lead on a corner three-pointer with 11.5 seconds left after they trailed by as many as 21 points in the third quarter and 18 points to start the fourth.
“[The block] was real nice. I had to lock back in after JB hit that three because I knew they had [no] timeouts,” said Bridges, who hit a season-high four three-pointers. “I was trying to not let the ball roll and let [Schroder] get steam so I tried to pick him up a little bit and it felt good, especially right in front of our bench.”
Brunson scored 16 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter to outduel Cam Thomas, who had 27 of his season-high 43 points in the first half.
With the Knicks trailing by a point, Brunson didn’t hesitate, pulling up in front of Dorian Finney-Smith.
The shot was redemption from Wednesday’s one-point loss to Chicago. The Knicks came back from a 22-point deficit to take the lead, only to lose on Coby White’s three free throws with three seconds left. Brunson’s bid for a winning turnaround jumper looked good but ultimately spun out and fell off the rim at the buzzer.
“That is the nature of this league,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We had the emotion of that last game and that disappointment, and then to bounce back like we did tonight. To find a way to win at the end speaks volumes to who [Brunson] is. To have the resolve to take that shot and make that shot.”
The Knicks (6-6), who were outscored 40-24 in the fourth quarter, won with Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) and Deuce McBride (illness) ruled out before the game. The Nets (5-8) were down center Nic Claxton, who was ruled out Friday morning with a lower back strain that required an epidural injection.
It was Thomas’ second consecutive 40-point game at the Garden. He scored 41 points on April 12 last season and came out firing again Friday.
Thomas made his first eight shots and shot 10-for-11 in the first half. He finished at 16-for-22, including 7-for-10 from three-point range, for his ninth career 40-point game, but the Nets fell to 2-7 in those games. The rest of his teammates totaled 34.3% shooting from the floor.
“They were guarding hard and switching multiple defenders on people, so I just had to really figure it out,” Thomas said. “I just really wanted to come out and be aggressive. We had to set the tone early, first Cup game.”
Bridges tried to do that with a 14-point first half in which he shot 6-for-7. Then he helped the Knicks pull ahead in the third quarter.
He made a 21-foot jumper in the face of Cam Johnson, who played with Bridges for 283 games over five seasons with the Suns and Nets. His alley-oop pass to OG Anunoby pushed the lead to 17. After his second three-pointer of the period, he held his form and said something to the Nets’ bench.
“It was good, good to see them,” Bridges said. “Competing against them and trash-talking back and forth. It was great to see not just my teammates but the staff and everybody else up top and everything.”
Anunoby had 25 points for the Knicks before fouling out. Johnson had 17 points for the Nets.
“We kept fighting. And they were talking in the huddle,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. “ ‘Hey, let’s bring it. Let’s cut it to 10 with six minutes to go.’ They stayed together right there. That’s a sign of, when you hear that from your players, it’s like OK, we’re gonna get there, and to see it at that point, 40-point quarter, took the lead, it’s pretty impressive.”
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
