James Harden’s domination early. Kevin Durant’s clutch plays late. And when the Knicks took both away, James Johnson’s free throws at the end.
It was the journeyman’s foul shots with just two seconds left — and Evan Fournier’s missed desperation heave at the buzzer — that clinched the Nets’ grind-it-out 112-110 victory over the rival Knicks before a record sellout of 18,081 at Barclays Center on Tuesday night.
Harden bounced back from a tough night against Phoenix with a 34 points, 28 in the first half. And Durant had 11 of his 27 in the final 5:45.
But in the waning seconds, Durant found Johnson open in the lane. He drew a foul on Mitchell Robinson and calmly sank both free throws for a two-point lead with 2.2 seconds remaining in regulation.
“I wanted the one-on-one situation to just go out there and get a bucket. But I saw D-Rose creeping, and if I would’ve went into my move, he would’ve just jumped me. So I just tried to be patient and waited for it to open up, and James became available and went down the lane,” Durant said. “He was aggressive enough to the rim and was able to knock those free throws down. Huge play.”
Fournier’s miss — 45 feet away, but still a cleaner look than Brooklyn should’ve allowed — ensured Durant’s pass and Johnson’s free throws were the game-winning play.
Alec Burks led the Knicks with 25 points and five assists. Julius Randle had 24 and nine rebounds and eight assists. He largely had Durant’s number early, but got outplayed in the fourth, including a costly technical with 1:36 left. He felt he should’ve earned a foul, and that he’s not getting calls because he’s too strong.
“It pisses me off even more,” Randle said. “To be honest with you, because that is not how you officiate the game.”
Brooklyn led 82-66 before the Knicks mounted a furious rally.
Behind Burks and Randle, they went ahead and led 105-103.
Patty Mills tied it for Brooklyn, then Harden found Durant for a go-ahead 18-foot pull-up.
Randle got hit with a technical, and Durant sank the ensuing free throw for a 108-105 edge with 1:36 in regulation. Durant stole the ball from Randle on the next possession.
The Nets came up empty, and Randle got free inside to pull the Knicks within one. Fournier tied it at 110-all on a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left.
When the Knicks blitzed Rose (16 points) at Durant and Johnson got free in the paint to draw a foul with 2.2 seconds left, the journeyman untied it. He made both free throws, and Brooklyn held on.
The Nets had a 25-12 edge in free throws taken, with Harden attempting 10 by himself.
“I thought we overall did a lot of good things. Didn’t close it out,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I want to take a look at the film but … there is a big discrepancy in free throws, I can tell you that.”
It was a brilliant outing from Harden, and much-needed. After the Suns loss, he admitted he was struggling trying to balance scoring versus facilitating with Kyrie Irving out.
He got a pregame pep talk from Hall of Famer-turned TNT broadcaster Reggie Miller, and a mandate from Nets coach Steve Nash to just attack and be himself.
That was good enough.
“Yeah, just being aggressive. Being aggressive. That’s the only thing every night is my aggressiveness. I’ve just got to continue that,” said Harden, who is regaining his confidence going to the rim.
“Yeah, for sure. Just not thinking about anything but being aggressive the entire game. The second half was a little different, but we had guys get going. Patty [Mills] started that second half off hot, Kevin got going a little bit, so I was just aggressive. That’s the mindset for four quarters.”
