Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from landmark road win at New York

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The Brooklyn Nets on Saturday ended a nearly 3-year streak of losing the second game of back-to-backs on the road, beating the New York Knicks 112-104.

The Brooklyn Nets just went on a streak-busting frenzy this weekend.

With their overtime victory over the Toronto Raptors at Barclays Center on Friday night, Brooklyn erased an eight-game losing streak, an eight-game losing skid at home and a string of 12 consecutive losses to the Raptors.

And with their 112-104 victory Saturday over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the Nets won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 4-9 and, more significantly, ended a streak of 33 straight losses on the road while playing the second game of a back-to-back set.

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They also swept their first back-to-back games since April 1-2, 2017, while their last back-end win on the road had been Dec. 21, 2015, against the Chicago Bulls.

Their shooting was on point for the first time in awhile. Brooklyn shot 48.9 percent overall, hitting 43-of-88, their best mark since shooting 56.8 percent in a loss at home to the Philadelphia 6ers on Nov. 25, and just the third game since Nov. 1 they’ve topped 48 percent.

Meanwhile, their 50 percent mark from 3-point range, 11-for-22, was their best percentage from deep this season, topping their 47.6 percent mark (20-for-42) in an Oct. 28 loss at home to the Golden State Warriors.

The Nets outrebounded the Knicks 45-40, including 12-9 on the offensive window, and held a 60-48 edge on points in the paint, a 19-15 advantage in second-change points and a 7-4 lead in fast-break points. The only area lacking was points off turnovers, where Brooklyn was outscored 23-8.

Brooklyn had 27 assists on 43 makes Saturday, matching their total from Nov. 4 against the 76ers and one behind their season-high of 28, which the Nets have done three times, most recently in a Nov. 12 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

So, yes, the Nets played very well Saturday night, leading by as much as 19 points in the third quarter before New York made its inevitable run to close to within five points in the fourth quarter before Brooklyn was able to close out the win with a minimum of drama — a pleasant change.

It appears the biggest casualty in the promotion of rookie forward Rodions Kurucs to the rotation is backup guard Shabazz Napier, who took his second consecutive DNP-CD and his third in 25 games on the active list this season. Kenneth Faried‘s DNP-CD was his 19th in 27 games active.

The Nets had the same five players inactive Saturday night they had Friday: Dzanan Musa (on assignment to Long Island of the NBA G League), Alan Williams and Theo Pinson (two-way contracts currently with Long Island), Treveon Graham (left hamstring strain) and Caris LeVert (subtalar dislocation, right foot).

Here are the player grades from Saturday’s victory:

Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from a solid road win at New York

By Phil Watson | Dec 9, 2018

The Brooklyn Nets on Saturday ended a nearly 3-year streak of losing the second game of back-to-backs on the road, beating the New York Knicks 112-104.

More from Nothin' But Nets