The Nets get another shot at the Knicks tonight, and this one carries a streak Brooklyn has not broken since January 2023. The visitors enter at 1-5, the Knicks at 2-4, and the gap between them is small enough to keep the rivalry alive but large enough to make every possession matter.
That is why Julius Randle is back in the frame. He is playing his first game at MSG since the Knicks won the championship, and the matchup gives the night a sharper edge than a normal early-season game. Brooklyn last beat New York in January 2023, when Randle was a Knick and Kyrie Irving was on the Nets, a snapshot that now feels like the last clear point where the rivalry tilted the other way.
The numbers around both teams make the game easier to measure. The Knicks were coming off a 98-93 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night in Philly, while Brooklyn arrives with an ugly start that still leaves it only one game behind New York. That is the odd part of this matchup: a team that has struggled badly can still erase some of the damage with one win over a rival it has not beaten in nearly two years.
Randle adds another layer because this has not been a clean offensive stretch for him. He had not shot above 50% from the field since the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second game of the season, and he was sixth in the NBA in turnovers per game at 4.2 a night. Jalen Brunson, meanwhile, has had down shooting splits across the board in his first six games, which leaves the Knicks searching for steadier offense even as the game draws attention for its emotional backdrop.
There are other pieces moving too. Day’ron Sharpe collected his first double-double of the season last night in Indiana, and OG Anunoby is expected to match up with Michael Porter Jr. tonight. But the center of the night remains the same: Brooklyn is trying to end a losing streak against New York, and the answer to whether it can do that will come on the floor at MSG.
