Brunson, Towns steal one late as Knicks escape Nets in the final seconds

The Knicks don’t just survive in Brooklyn — they snatch it back in the final minute.

New York erases a 13-point deficit, absorbs a 17-point Nets burst in the fourth, and still walks out with a 93-92 win after Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns take over the closing stretch. It’s the kind of road finish that never looks clean, but the Knicks make the final possessions count when it matters most.

Brooklyn sets the tone early, using a 22-14 first quarter to put the Knicks on their heels. The Nets keep building in the second and stretch the margin to 13 before New York finally gets moving. That response starts with Towns. He buries a 25-footer late in the second as part of an 8-0 swing that pulls the Knicks within two, and suddenly the game has a pulse. By halftime, Brooklyn’s lead is down to 50-44, and the Knicks are starting to find their spacing.

Then comes New York’s best run of the night. Early in the third, the Knicks rip off an 11-0 burst that flips the game from a one-point struggle into a 75-65 advantage. Brunson drives for a layup to cap the sequence, and the visitors look like they’ve finally seized control. Towns keeps punishing Brooklyn inside and out, and Josh Minott’s scoring gives the Knicks a second wave of offense. Minott finishes with 22 points and six threes, providing the kind of perimeter punch that keeps the Nets from loading up too aggressively on Brunson and Towns.

But Brooklyn isn’t done. The fourth quarter turns into a full-blown sprint, and the Nets put together a 17-point run to surge from down 14 to up 87-84. Nolan Traore is at the center of it, knocking down free throws, then later attacking the rim and drilling a running pull-up three with 5.4 seconds left to pull Brooklyn within one. In between, the game swings on possessions that feel enormous in real time: Traore’s driving layup makes it 89-92 with 16.5 seconds left, and his deep pull-up at the horn nearly completes the comeback.

That sets up the closing edge New York needed all night. Brunson answers the pressure with a 10-foot driving floater bank shot at 2:19, then comes right back with a 13-foot pullup at 1:34 to push the Knicks back ahead 90-87 and then 92-87 on Towns’ driving layup at 1:04. Those are the two possessions that decide it. No theatrics, no extra possessions — just Brunson getting to his spots and Towns cleaning up the margin.

And Towns was the difference throughout. He finishes with 26 points and 15 rebounds in just 29 minutes, controlling the glass and giving New York a reliable release valve whenever Brooklyn threatened to heat up. Brunson’s line isn’t listed in the box here, but the play-by-play tells the story: he delivers the late shot-making and the 8-assist setup on Towns’ last basket. Minott’s 22 points and six threes also loom large in a game decided by one possession.

For Brooklyn, the loss stings because the response was real. Traore nearly drags them all the way back, and the Nets’ fourth-quarter surge shows how fragile a one-possession game can be. But the Knicks leave with the road win, and that matters. In a tight Eastern Conference race, this is the kind of result that can swing seeding, extend momentum, and reinforce New York’s ability to close under pressure.