Jordi Fernandez reveals the sobering reality of a 1-9 start after the Knicks’ embarrassing loss

Doc The New York Knicks are aiming for a championship this season, Brooklyn Nets they look at lottery losses and odds. It showed on Sunday. The Nets were crushed 134-98 in front of a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden.

Brooklyn trailed by as many as 39 points during the embarrassing defeat. It was the Nets’ 11th straight loss against their cross-town rival they won nine in a row from 2020 to 2023.

“It’s just not good enough,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “We want more and we want better. I’ll be the first to demand it. And if we don’t get it, obviously, I’m the first to take the blame. And I have to look in the mirror.”

Brooklyn’s worst defense in the NBA he was no match for the Knicks’ high-octane offense. Fernandez’s team put up little resistance, allowing New York to shoot 48-of-89 (54 percent) from the field and 17-of-37 (46 percent) from three.

The nets blown by the Knicks during the first game of the series of the season

The Nets’ transition defense remained apathetic, as the Knicks outscored them 18-4 in fast-paced scoring. Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson harassed Noah Clowney and Nick Claxton, and New York outscored Brooklyn 58-36. The Nets were outscored 80-32 in Friday’s 125-107 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

“Those are the situations where we want to grow, to have the attention, the level of attention and communication on all those things. And that’s not happening,” Fernandez said of his team’s defense. “Obviously, I can’t go out there and coach every play and every action. I know our guys have the ability to be a lot better, and we have very high expectations for our guys on how they perform and how they compete. And there’s a lot of room to improve, so that’s the exciting part. From now until game 20 to 30, 40, and until now, we want to see a good place, so we want to see a good place. because this should be easy to improve.”

Towns led the Knicks with 28 points, 12 rebounds and two assists on 10-of-17 shooting. Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each added 19 points, while Mikal Bridges had 16 on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from three.

Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. scored a game-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Rookie wing Drake Powell added 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from three.

“I think we shot ourselves in the foot, just the way we started,” Powell said. “They took some tough shots … (Jordi’s) main (thing after the game) was just to stick together. When adversity comes, you can see who you really are and what you’re made of.”

The loss decreased Nets to 1-9, their worst start since 2015-16. Brooklyn will return to action on Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors at the Barclays Center.