Nets Continue Downward Spiral, Drop Under .500

When the season began in October nobody thought that come March the Brooklyn Nets would have the same record as the Charlotte Hornets.

No disrespect to the Hornets, but here we are. The Nets are 32-33 following a 126-120 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. The Nets have lost 17 of its last 20 games, and after being without Kevin Durant for so many weeks, the Nets are still losing games, even with Durant and Kyrie Irving in the lineup.

Durant scored 37 points, and even made history collecting his 25,000 point on a jumpshot outside the paint in the fourth quarter.

Irving contributed 19 points, but it was enough to stymie Boston's Jayson Tatum, who went off on the boards, dropping 54 points on 16-of-30 shooting, including making eight three-pointers.

All five starters were in double figures for the Celtics, including Jaylen Brown's 21 points.

With only 17 games left, the Nets are running out of time. Ironically, they visit the Hornets on Tuesday in a game Brooklyn must have if it wants to get back into the serious discussion for the postseason.

As for the Knicks, they were powered by R.J. Barrett's 24 points and Immanuel Quickley's 21 points in a rare road victory, 113 - 96 against the LA Clippers.

"Tonight the fight was there from start to finish," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Hopefully we can build on it."

The victory comes after Julius Randle was fined $50,000 by the NBA for shoving Phoenix Suns forward Cam Johnson. Randle was ejected from that very Suns game on Friday.

Before Sunday's action Randle said, "I'm more upset I wasn't available for my team down the stretch. That hurt me more than anything." Randle had 10 points against the Suns on Friday, and 10 points against the Clippers on Sunday.

The Knicks (26-38) visit the Kings tonight.