Virtually one game away.
The Brooklyn Nets maintained home-court advantage in a major way, winning Game 4 of the Cross Bridge Battle in a 128-106 blowout over the New York Knicks. Heading into Madison Square Garden for Game 5, the Nets now have a 3-1 series lead, and are just one game away from winning the series outright.
Brooklyn was powered by Brooklyn’s Backcourt of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. The two combined for 59 points on 25-40 shooting, adding six assists each. The Nets as a whole shot 58% from the field, including 8-9 from Brook Lopez and another double-double from Andray Blatche (13 points, 12 rebounds). MarShon Brooks added 10 points off the bench, including a pretty spin move in the fourth quarter (around 3:10 in the video).
The Nets bullied their way inside for the entire game, outscoring the Knicks 80-48 in the paint.
The Knicks were led once again by J.R. Smith, who scored 27 points on 10-17 shooting, but their other backcourt member struggled: Raymond Felton finished just 3-14 from the field in the loss. Iman Shumpert put up 24 points (including 3-5 from deep) and Carmelo Anthony added 19 points & 10 rebounds.
After a close first half, the Nets built their lead with a monstrous 37-21 third quarter, shooting 64% in the period with 10 of their 14 fast-break points, including one fast break dunk from Brook Lopez. (No, really. It’s in the video.) They took a 99-79 lead into the fourth quarter, and unlike their near-collapse in Game 1, they never looked back.
Knicks Coach Jared Dubin was unavailable for comment after the game, as Nets coach Devin Kharpertian was busy screaming “BROOK-LYNNN” directly in his face.
Box score and other relevant info below.
