Connect with us

Uncategorized

Lopez Leads Nets to 109-98 Thrashing of Knicks

(BROOKLYN) — The Sean Marks era is off to a fine start in Brooklyn.

Brook Lopez matched his season-high with 33 points to go along with eight rebounds as the Nets knocked off the New York Knicks 109-98 on Friday night.

On the night they introduced Marks as their new general manager, the Nets (15-40) went on two key runs in the second half to send their crosstown rivals to a seventh straight defeat.

Six players scored in double figures for Brooklyn, led by Lopez’s 33.  Thaddeus Young and Joe Johnson combined for 25 points, while guard Donald Sloan added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks (23-33) with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the loss.  Since they were 22-22 last month, New York has lost 11 of its last 12 games.  If things continue to trend in a negative direction for the Knicks, there won’t be any postseason basketball in New York this year.

New York led by five points in the third quarter before the Nets went on a 20-2 run and took a 74-61 lead.  They shot 63 percent from the field in the frame and took an 84-76 lead into the fourth.  Another late scoring spree from Bojan Bogdanovic (16 points on 6-of-8 shooting) in the final few minutes all but sealed the victory.

This may be a tough season for the Nets, but this was a fairly good week for them.  They opened up their brand new practice facility in Brooklyn on Wednesday, and now they 100% call the borough home.  Marks was hired on Thursday, and they toyed with the Knicks on Friday night.  That kind of week will put any team in high spirits, no matter what their record is.

The Nets will host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday before embarking on a two-week long road trip.

Notes: The Nets held a press conference before the game to introduce Marks, who said that while it was tough to leave an organization like the San Antonio Spurs, he is up to the task at hand, which is rebuilding one of the worst teams in the NBA.

“It was a difficult decision,’’ Marks told reporters. “Any time you’re having to get out of your comfort zone isn’t easy. But at the same time, my time spent with Mr. Prokhorov, Dmitry [Razumov] and the rest of the Nets group here during the interviews led me to believe we have a similar vision.

“I’m privileged to have had the opportunity in San Antonio to have been around some really good staff members, coach [Gregg Popovich] and R.C. Buford, tremendous mentors for me. … And, to be honest, it’s time for me to see if I can do this.’’

The next steps for Marks will be to evaluate the entire organization, including players, coaches and front office members.  The Nets will most likely wait until after the season ends to hire a new head coach.

Injury Report: Reserve forward Andrea Bargnani was inactive for the game due to an illness.

The following two tabs change content below.
Jason Goldstein is a co host of the Baseline Jumper NBA podcast, recording every Tuesday night along Ben McDonald. Jason has also spent time as the Basketball Editor at DoubleGSports.com while also handling the Brooklyn Nets Lead Writer duties since October 2015.
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Uncategorized