January 21, 2013, Madison Square Garden:
Nets 88, Knicks 85
The Nets met the Knicks for the final time in 2012-13 exactly half-way through the inaugural Brooklyn season on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I have a dream where the Nets are an efficient third quarter team, but it wasn’t realized on this day, as Brooklyn squandered a six-point halftime lead to enter the fourth quarter down by three.
As with the first two games in Brooklyn, this one came down to the final minute. With the Nets down 84-83, Iso Joe Johnson used a hesitation dribble to take JR Smith baseline, where he hit a corner jumper to put the Nets up, 85-84, with 22 seconds remaining. Johnson had a team-high 25 points.
Carmelo Anthony put out his lowest point total against the Brooklyn Nets, putting up 29 on 11-29 shooting. Like the first game, Melo had a chance to give the Knicks the lead with less than ten seconds remaining. On the ensuing play after Johnson put the Nets ahead, Anthony took Crash Wallace baseline, but airballed it where JJ swished it.
The win improved Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo’s record to 11-2. It would be the only game in the rivalry for Carlesimo, as the Nets let him go after the Game Seven loss to the Chicago Bulls in the opening round of the playoffs. When Jason Kidd takes the bench this Thursday, he’ll become the third Brooklyn Nets coach to face the Knicks in the rivalry that is only five games old.
