40 • December 9, 2021 - December 15, 2021
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Sports The consistent Nets take their winning ways on the road A f t e r S a t u r d a y ’s 1 1 1 107 home loss to the Chicago Bulls, a game that the Bulls took control of in the closing minutes, the Brooklyn Nets have gone on the road for four games, having departed with the best record in the Eastern Conference. T h e Ne t s o p e n e d t h e t r i p Tu e s d a y n i g h t i n D a l l a s v e r s u s t h e Ma v e r i c k s a n d went up against the rising young Houston Rockets l a s t n i g h t ( We d n e s d a y ) . L e d b y K e v i n D u r a n t ’s 2 4 p o i n t s a n d Ja m e s Ha r d e n ’s n e a r t r i p l e - d o u b l e of 23 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds, the N e t s e x t e n d e d t h e Ma ve r i c k s’ l o s i n g s t r e a k t o three games, and handed them their eighth loss in the last ten games with a tight 102-99. I t w a s B r o o k l y n ’s t h i r d
(Bill Moore photo)
By VINCENT DAVIS Special to the AmNews
Kevin Durant opened the Brooklyn Nets’ four-game road trip on Tuesday with 24 points in a 102-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks
victor y in their previous four games, improving their record to 17-7 and 9-2 away from the Barclays C e n t e r. D o w n b y 1 2 at the half and 17 in t h e t h i r d q u a r t e r, t h e Nets fought back, outscoring Dallas 27-13 in the fourth q u a r t e r. B o t h L u k a Doncic and Kristaps P o r z i n g i s , t h e M a v e ri c k s’ t w o b e s t p l a y e r s , were back in the lineup after being sidelined due to injuries. Doncic, an annual leading MVP candidate, finished with 28, and Porzingis, a former first round pick of the Knicks, had 17 points and 12 rebounds. “ I t ’s a c h a r a c t e r w i n w h e re y o u j u s t w a n t t o make the right plays to get back in the game and you want
to turn the momentum to your s i d e ,” s a i d D u r a n t . “ I t h i n k w e d i d t h a t t o n i g h t .” Ha r d e n l o o k e d a t i t a s t h e Nets maintaining their discipline and not straying from w h a t t h e y n o r m a l l y d o. “ Throughout the course of the game, I feel like we got good s h o t s , w e j u s t m i s s e d t h e m ,” s a i d Ha r d e n a f t e r t h e w i n . “ We j u s t k e p t s t i c k i n g w i t h i t . Yo u ’v e got to just keep shooting, espec i a l l y i f t h a t ’s w h a t y o u d o.” The Nets have been consistent from the start of the season and have yet to lose two straight games. Their longest winning streak is five games and they also have won four in a row. Before playing the Rockets Durant led the league in scoring at 28.4 and Harden was second in assists averaging 9.6. T h e N e t s’ n e x t t w o g a m e s w i l l b e a g a i n s t t h e A t l a n t a Ha w k s tomorrow and Detroit Pistons on Sunday. They will be back on t h e i r h o m e c o u r t o n Tu e s d a y t o f a c e t h e To r o n t o R a p t o r s .
Knicks labor to find balance in the midst of uneven play By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
(Bill Moore photo)
off last night. His numbers in points and assists (2.1) The Knicks were in Indiana last are down from night (Wednesday) to take on a year ago while the Pacers, the second game of a he was reboundthree-game road trip which con- ing (5.8 per game) cludes tomorrow night against the at the exact same Toronto Raptors. They had a solid rate. Barrett ended 121-109 win on Tuesday versus the 2020-’21 regthe San Antonio Spurs, ending a ular season at a three-game losing streak and get- clip of 17.6 points, ting back to .500 at 12-12. shooting 44% overRJ Barrett, who has gone through all and 40% on a tough stretch over the past three-pointers. month, broke out of a slump scor- He went into the ing 32 points, including making Pacers game with a seven of eight three-pointers. The 40.7 shooting per6-foot-6 21-year-old’s struggles AM are NEWS centage and conAM NEWS 01414 a microcosm of the Knicks’ uneven verting just 34.7% AM NEWS 10/07/21 12/02/21 season and their laborious pursuit (42-121) on 10/07/21 0 three7 74470 22784 of positive balance. After finishing point attempts. as the No. 4 in the Eastern ConferThe Duke product ence at 41-31 entering the playoffs, is also playing less the Knicks were sitting 11th in the minutes—31.3 this Knicks guard/forward RJ Barrett broke out of a long 15-team East following their victo- season compared shooting slump on Tuesday night, scoring 32 points in ry over the Spurs. to 34.9 last season. a 121-109 road win over the San Antonio Spurs Barrett was the Knicks’ second Barrett’s 2,511 total AM NEWS AM NEWS 01424 AM NEWS leading scorer behind Julius minutes played a season ago was and I’ve just been working on the 10/14/21 12/09/21 10/14/21 7 only shots Randle—who was averaging 19.9 second in 0the74470 NBA 22784 , trailing I’m going to get and certain points before facing the Pacers— Julius Randle’s 2,667. other shots,” Barrett said on Satat 14.8 ppg when the Knicks tipped “I’ve kinda figured that out now urday at Madison Square Garden,
where the Knicks fell to the Denver Nuggets 113-99. “I’ve been in shooting funks before and not too worried about it.” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau took a pragmatic view of Barrett’s shooting regression. “It’s similar to last year. I have a lot of confidence in him being able to work his way out of it,” he asserted. “When you throw in he’s been sick, and to me you get rhythm when you work. “Last year, he got going when he started coming in every night to shoot…So get back in the gym, get back to grooving your shot. Shoot a lot of threes and you’ll start making more.” 01494 The Knicks will host the defendAM NE ing0 NBA champion Milwaukee 12/02/ 7 Bucks 74470 at the22784 Garden on Sunday ahead of taking on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors at MSG next Tuesday.
01504 0
74470 22784
7
AM NE 12/09/
