Nets manage to keep surging Knicks at bay

Two Nets turnovers in the final 15.4 seconds gave the Knicks a chance to overcome an 18-point third-quarter deficit and force overtime. Then a critical turnover by Julius Randle gave that golden opportunity right back to the Nets, who pulled out a 117-112 victory Monday night at Barclays Center.

James Harden had his 10th triple-double as the Nets won for the 13th time in their past 14 games.

"A win is a win," coach Steve Nash said. "You found a way to win the game, did enough to win. I told the guys my only gripe was we had a chance to be up 20, 25 in the first half, and we let them get back . . . They cut the deficit [to 12] at halftime. That can come back to bite you, but it didn’t. We got it done in the end, and we’ll just have to learn from it."

Although the Nets shot the lights out for three quarters and led by as much as 18, they were up by only 12 heading to the final period because the Knicks hung tough with offensive rebounding and 15 second-chance points in the first three quarters.

RJ Barrett, Nash’s godson, had six points in a 9-2 Knicks surge to trim the deficit to 107-103 with 4:29 left. It still was a four-point game when Julius Randle hit a three at the 1:48 mark to pull within 112-108.

With 15.4 seconds left and the Nets up five, Harden caught an inbounds pass, was triple-teamed and was tied up by Randle, who won the jump ball and wound up driving for a dunk with 10.6 seconds left to cut the Knicks’ deficit to 115-112. At the 7.7 mark, Barrett fouled Joe Harris, but Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau made a successful challenge to force a jump ball that the Knicks won before calling timeout with 5.7 seconds to go.

They got the ball to Randle, who was called for a travel when Kyrie Irving slapped at the ball as he was going up for a shot that he failed to get off before landing. That led to a pair of clinching foul shots by Harden.

After the game, Randle declined to comment on the call that he hotly disputed with the referees at the end of the game.

Describing the play, Irving said: "I was going to foul early, but I saw him lining up for a [three-point] jump shot. I felt I could get a good hand on it. Scott [Foster, the referee] called travel. I thought Julius made a good play afterward putting it down. I was going to foul him after that just to get him to the free-throw line. That’s how it went."

Foster later said the play was ruled a travel because, even though Irving slapped the ball, Randle never lost control before he landed.

Irving led the Nets (27-13) with 34 points. Harden had 21 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists, and Jeff Green added 20 points. The Nets shot 57.9%, including 12-for-29 from three-point range (41.4%).

Randle topped the Knicks (20-20) with 33 points and 12 rebounds, Barrett added 23 and Immanuel Quickley had 21.

The first Nets-Knicks game in January at Madison Square Garden was played in front of no fans, so Monday night’s minimalist, socially distanced gathering of 1,637 live bodies at least lent an atmospheric touch of authenticity to the renewal of the rivalry.

"I got a little taste of it tonight," Harden said. "New York fans, especially Knick fans, you could hear them. I don’t know how many fans we had in the building total, but you heard a lot of Knick fans. We understand the tradition, but I’m just happy to be a part of the tradition and of the rivalry on this Nets team with the rhythm and the way we’re playing."

By Greg Logan

Gregory.Logan@newsday.comGregLogan1

Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.