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 Brooklyn (17-22) was led by swingman Joe Johnson's 25 points, as
he had his way with whichever Knicks' defender had the misfortune of
guarding him. Johnson had 12 points in the first quarter — at one
point equaling the entire Knicks' output — and never looked back as
he shot 8-of-15 from the field.
Nets head coach Jason Kidd was certainly impressed with the quiet,
yet effective Johnson.
"We play through Joe and he has been making a lot of great reads
[by] scoring the ball and getting some wide-open looks," said Kidd.
"It is [contagious] because they're all trying to make the right
play."
The Knicks (15-26) were led by forward Carmelo Anthony's 26 points,
but he received little from his supporting cast. Guard J.R. Smith
and rookie guard Tim Hardaway Jr. were the only other teammates to
reach double figures in scoring, adding 15 and 11 points,
respectively.
The Knicks shot a paltry 33.8 percent from the field and showed
little life, as they suffered through their fourth straight loss.
Knicks' head coach Mike Woodson said now is the time for his
struggling team to step up their play, as the Knicks are in the
midst of an eight-game homestand.
"You lose double digits again (so) there has to be more of a sense
of urgency than the way we're playing right now," said Woodson,
frustrated with the lack of energy on the defensive end. "We just
can't base (success or failure) on how we play offense. When you're
struggling to score, you've got to make sure your defense is right
where it needs to be to keep you in the game until you score." Brooklyn's reserves had a combined 50 points, led by forward
Andre Blatche's 19 points, as every Nets player who checked in
registered a point.
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The Nets dominated their rivals so completely that little was
needed from future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
The former tallied just three points in 27 minutes, while the
latter recorded just six points in 17 minutes. Both were on the
bench for long periods of needed rest, as the Nets upped their
lead to as many as 23 points early into the fourth quarter.
Kidd said the team's turnaround since the start of the new
calendar year is due to everyone buying in and picking up the
slack when others may struggle.
"It is about those guys in the locker room. They all believe
they can play both sides of the ball and they're doing it at a
high level as of late," said Kidd, who added he did not get any
additional satisfaction from beating his former team. "We have
to keep building on it. ... It's just another game on the
schedule and now we turn the page and get ready to play
Orlando."
NOTES: New York's sluggish ways aren't uncommon in matinee
affairs, but their collective assist-to-turnover ratio of 13
assists to 16 giveaways was an indicator that few were fully
engaged in the contest. ... Not even the return of their usual
sparkplug, G Pablo Prigioni, could help the Knicks. Prigioni,
who missed weeks with a foot injury, got the start alongside PG
Raymond Felton but was ineffective in registering just two
points, two assists and three turnovers in 19 minutes of action.
... The current eight-game homestand is the Knicks' longest
since the same amount of consecutive home games were played in
December of 1986. ... New York is just 6-10 when F Carmelo
Anthony posts a double-double. He had 26 points and 12 rebounds.
... Anthony has led the Knicks in scoring in 36 of the team's 41
games and has led them in rebounding 26 times.
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