Nets 109, Knicks 98
NEW YORK -- Center Brook Lopez matched a season-high with 33 points and the Brooklyn Nets ushered in the Sean Marks era with a 109-98 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night.
Lopez led six players in double figures while Marks watched his first game since leaving San Antonio to take the general manager job Billy King had until getting reassigned Jan. 10. Marks was among eight candidates the Nets interviewed before the team made the announcement nearly five hours before the trade deadline Thursday.
Along with a sellout crowd, Marks watched the Nets take a 14-point lead during the third quarter, give most of it back early in the fourth and make enough plays to midway through the final period to get their 15th win in 55 games this season.
The Nets were threatened when guard Arron Affalo knocked down a corner 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 9:36 remaining, getting the Knicks within 86-83. Affalo hit another basket a little over a minute later to make it an 89-85 game.
Instead of wilting further, the Nets scored the next 13 points, taking a 102-85 lead on a jumper by forward Joe Johnson with 5:28 remaining.
While Lopez was an interior force with his fourth game of at least 30 points, he had help. Swingman Bojan Bogdanovic added 16 points, point guard Donald Sloan collected 14 and 10 and forward Thaddeus Young contributed 13.
The Knicks lost their second game under interim coach Kurt Rambis, saw their losing streak reach a season-high seven games while losing for the 11th time in 12 games since Jan. 12.
Forward Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 22 points but faded after going 5-of-6 in the first quarter, missing seven of his final 10 shots. Rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points but was 6-of-15 from the floor while Afflalo had 17.
Anthony scored 11 as the Knicks shot 59 percent and took a 32-23 lead after the opening 12 minutes. New York was outscored 86-66 and shot 38 percent the rest of the way.
NOTES: The Nets introduced new GM Sean Marks at a pregame press conference. Marks was hired Thursday morning, 5 1/2 weeks after Billy King was reassigned within the organization. Among the things he said at his first media appearance were the coaching search will be worldwide and he plans to expand the team's scouting and front office staff. ... New York F Carmelo Anthony said during the morning shootaround that he does not feel major soreness in his left knee after the last two practices. ... New York interim coach Kurt Rambis confirmed G Jimmer Fredette will be signed to a 10-day contract on Monday. Rambis said his preference would be for Fredette to have a few practices before getting any minutes. ... Nets interim coach Tony Brown said he would like to increase F Chris McCullough's minutes but did not have a specific number for the rookie, who made his NBA debut on Feb. 8 after rehabbing his right knee since January 2015.