Nets still can’t beat Magic as struggles against East deepen
NY Post
Incompetence against the East continued for the Nets, as did their misery against the Magic.
The Nets suffered a 100-92 loss to Orlando on Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 16,505 at Barclays Center.
The defeat dropped them to 9-12. It also marked their fifth straight loss to the Magic and saw them fall to 3-11 against the Eastern Conference, which is not exactly packed with powerhouses other than Boston and Cleveland.
Granted, the Nets were shorthanded, playing without leading scorer Cam Thomas (hamstring), plus-minus leader Dorian Finney-Smith (ankle) and key frontcourt reserves Noah Clowney and Day’Ron Sharpe. That showed up on the boards.
The Nets were hammered, 52-33, on the glass and outscored, 53-38, in the paint.
Cam Johnson scored a team-high 25 points, and Dennis Schroder added 20 and seven assists in his return from personal leave. It wasn’t enough to overcome their deficiencies in the paint and on the boards.
The Knicks face elimination Tuesday night.
It was a history-making week that changed very little in the NFL hierarchy.
The Rangers do not play again until Friday when the Penguins come to the Garden, but the next three days will be the most critical of a season that is fast becoming a sinkhole.
During my vacation the past few weeks, a plugged-in agent told me it was his sense that the Mets were not playing at the top of the starting pitching market for Corbin Burnes and Max Fried.
Amazingly, the Knicks haven’t faced an Eastern Conference opponent with a winning record since October.
You don’t need to be a fortune teller — just a Giants fan well-versed in Murphy’s Law — to see the future headline now.
The Jets dropped their third straight game and eighth in their last nine on Sunday, a 26-21 loss to the Seahawks that sends them to 3-9 this season.
Bills fans maybe had a little too much fun in the snow Sunday night as Buffalo defeated the 49ers, 35-10.
The Mets have identified their next starting pitching project.
The Knicks reached the three-quarter pole of the basketball season Sunday night, and if they wanted to celebrate the occasion, they couldn’t have asked for a better patsy. Right now, the poor Pelicans are everyone’s favorite Homecoming Game, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram bedecked in sweaters and strapped to the injured list.
Christian McCaffrey left Sunday’s game with a knee injury after he suffered what appeared to be a non-contact injury and it may be the reason his 2024 season ends.