Knicks Hold Nets To Season-Low Field Goal Percentage In Win

Julius Randle had 33 points and eight rebounds as the New York Knicks forced the Brooklyn Nets into the worst shooting performance in the NBA this season.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK — Julius Randle had 33 points and eight rebounds, and the New York Knicks forced the Brooklyn Nets into the worst shooting performance in the NBA this season in a 94-82 victory Thursday night.

Brooklyn finished 21 of 78 (26.9%) from the field. Chicago had the previous worst shooting game this season when it hit 29.9% against Toronto exactly two months earlier.

Marcus Morris added 22 points and eight rebounds for the Knicks, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Elfrid Payton scored 13 points as New York won for the first time in three meetings with Brooklyn this season.

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 25 points but was only 5 for 15 for the Nets.

The game was originally ticketed for a national television audience on TNT before it was recently pulled, which turned out to be a wise decision because it was anything but must-see TV.

It even lacked the usual energy of a matchup between the city rivals, when there’s almost always noise because both teams have plenty of fans in the building. The crowd was still big, but there were simply too many long spells when there was nothing to cheer.

The Nets hadn’t played since Saturday and couldn’t shake off their holiday rust. Randle scored 12 points in the first quarter, when his five baskets were as many as the Nets. Brooklyn shot 21% for the period and the Knicks led 24-15.

That wasn’t the Nets’ only bad quarter. After they had cut it to 46-41 at halftime, they came out for the third and took more than eight minutes to make a basket. That allowed the Knicks to break it open with an 18-4 burst that extended an eight-point lead to 71-49 on Payton’s layup.

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot finally gave the Nets their first basket with a 3-pointer with 3:52 to play in the period, and he hit another later in the quarter, finishing with half of Brooklyn’s baskets in the period as it went 4 for 12.