Monday was a reminder that the Knicks and Nets are separated by more than just five miles, and the East River.
The 113-100 Knicks victory in Brooklyn ran their winning streak over their rivals to 12, now the longest ever run in the history of this series.
They’d been just 1-5 on the road, but with their fans taking over the sellout crowd of 18,019 at Barclays Center, it probably felt like home.
The Knicks fans might not have been quite as boisterous as in the past, but considering the Nets haven’t won in this series since Jan. 28, 2023, maybe this is just old hat.
Karl-Anthony Towns bullied the Nets inside with 37 points and 12 rebounds, scoring 11 in a 17-2 first-half run that gave the Knicks (10-6) the lead for good. Jalen Brunson added 27 points, and horrid Nets shooting did the rest.
The Nets got a career-high 31 points from Noah Clowney on 7-of-13 shooting from 3-point range. But the Nets shot just 37.9 percent overall and 14-of-48 from deep.
It was a better effort than the 134-98 pasting the Nets took on Nov. 9 in the Garden. But they fell to 0-8 at home, and 3-14 overall.
The Nets were fourth in the lottery standings, staying 1 ½ games behind the Pacers (who lost to the Pistons). They were 1 ½ behind the Pelicans, pending their game with Chicago.
Towns had 11 points in a 17-2 blitz, during which the Knicks defense smothered the Nets, holding them to just 1-of-10 shooting.
Clowney’s free throw had given the Nets a 31-28 edge with 9:09 left in the half, but they couldn’t hold it.
Towns worked inside for a bucket to start the run, and no Nets defender — not Clowney, not starting center Nic Claxton, not Michael Porter Jr. — could slow him.
And Brunson’s short jumper capped the spurt for a 45-33 lead with 4:56 in the half.
The Nets tried to respond with eight unanswered, Porter hitting his only 3-pointer of the night off an Egor Dëmin feed to pull them within 45-41 with just under three minutes in the first half.
And Terance Mann’s and-one pulled them even just 18 seconds into the second, knotting it at 51-51.
But the Knicks reeled off the next seven points, and never trailed again. They extended the run to 21-7, and eventually padded the lead to 19.
Rookie Drake Powell had a career-high 15 points for the Nets, and Porter added 16 but hit just 1-of-9 from behind the arc.
The Knicks played without forward OG Anunoby (hamstring) and guard Landry Shamet (shoulder), but Miles McBride played despite an illness.
The Nets had won 11 straight in the series during the Jason Kidd era, but they’re a far cry from that now.
