Long Island Nets fade late, fall to Knicks for 1st loss

The rusty Long Island Nets on Tuesday felt the effects of a 9-day layoff, fading late in a 93-90 loss to the Westchester Knicks at Westchester County Center.

The Long Island Nets couldn’t shoot straight Tuesday night after not playing for more than a week and it cost them in a 93-90 NBA G League loss to the Westchester Knicks at Westchester County Center.

The Nets (4-1) had a four-game winning streak snapped when they went cold in the fourth quarter, shooting just 6-for-29 (20.7 percent) and missing all 11 3-point attempts as the Knicks (6-3) roared back from a 77-69 deficit entering the final 12 minutes.

Long Island still had a chance to tie it, but Theo Pinson‘s 3-pointer with 0.4 second remaining was off the mark.

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Westchester took the lead with 21.4 seconds when John Jenkins found a cutting Isaiah Hicks for a layup.

Long Island hadn’t played since Nov. 11 after having their game scheduled for Friday against the Canton Charge at Canton, Ohio, postponed. The Nets couldn’t get out of the New York area because of last week’s snowstorm.

The layoff showed as Long Island shot just 32.7 percent (33-for-101) on the night and made just 9-of-31 from 3-point range (29.0 percent). The Nets also turned the ball over 20 times.

Westchester wasn’t a lot better, shooting 39.6 percent (36-for-91) and making only 4-of-24 from deep (16.7 percent).

Pinson, on a two-way contract with the parent Brooklyn Nets, led Long Island with 22 points and seven assists. Dzanan Musa, Brooklyn’s first-round pick in June on assignment to the G League affiliate, added 21 points.

Brooklyn’s other two-way player, Alan Williams, finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, while point guard Shannon Scott had 11 rebounds, but was 1-for-10 and scored only three points. Kamari Murphy came off the bench for 13 rebounds in 19 minutes.

Jenkins scored 25 points for the Knicks and Hicks, a two-way player, added 24 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Luke Kornet, on assignment from the parent New York club, had 11 rebounds and three blocks, Kadeem Allen finished with 19 points, five assists and four steals.

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Long Island is scheduled to go on the road Friday to take on the Windy City Bulls (3-5) at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a Chicago suburb for am 8 p.m. Eastern tipoff. It’s the first of a scheduled road back-to-back for the Nets, who play the Grand Rapids Drive on Saturday night.