In a vibrant match played at Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks defeated the Brooklyn Nets of Spanish coach Jordi Fernández 103-90 and achieved their fifteenth victory in the New York derby.
Shooting guard Landry Shamet led the locals with 22 points and point guard Jalen Brunson added 19 points on the famous New York court.
It should be noted that the NBA organized an intense day on Monday with the thirty franchises in action, before stopping this Tuesday for the mid-term elections in the United States to encourage electoral participation by fans and their community.
In other duels, Anthony Davis led the Washington Wizards’ 94-103 victory in Orlando with 27 points and nine rebounds, Kyshawn George contributed 22 points and AJ Dybantsa, number one in the last draft, added 21.
For their part, the Detroit Pistons gave a test of strength in Charlotte, where they defeated the Hornets 91-124 to add their third consecutive victory. Cade Cunningham had 33 points and seven assists in just 27 minutes.
And the Slovenian Luka Doncic won the private duel against the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo and led the victory of the Los Angeles Lakers against the Miami Heat, while the Philadelphia 76ers passed the roller and the Memphis Grizzlies, the only team that was still undefeated, fell to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Mikal Bridges gets used to the bench
Mikal Bridges’ contributions to the Knicks’ championship run over the summer haven’t guaranteed him much flexibility; The veteran forward has spent much of the time on the bench at the start of the 2026-27 season, reports Joe Pantorno of AMNY.com.
Bridges was limited to just 16 minutes in Monday night’s 103-90 win against the Brooklyn Nets at Madison Square Garden, going 1 of 7 from the field and scoring six points. It was the third time in seven games that head coach Mike Brown took Bridges off the court during the third quarter.
“He just has to keep playing,” Brown said. «Everyone goes through ups and downs throughout the season and obviously we are just at the beginning. He has to find his rhythm, both individually and in relation to the rest of the team. When you’re going through a rough patch, you have to hold on to one or two solid aspects of your game. “Mikal is one of the best players in the NBA in terms of transitions, both in attack and defense.”
«He must rely on that, in addition to his cutting movements towards the rim and other small tasks: capturing rebounds, penetrating towards the paint and distributing the ball. “With time, your shooting success will come.”
Bridges’ performance has been alarmingly poor so far. He is shooting 30.8% from the field and 26.9% from 3-point range. He averages 6.1 points and barely makes 3.7 shot attempts per game; a clear indication that he has been relegated to the background in an offensive scheme that increasingly relies on Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
“In my opinion, it’s a matter of time before Mikal starts working,” Brown said. But, if not, it is to be expected that this trend of leaving him on the bench will continue.
Lakers beat Miami
The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat 138-117 with 42 points, thirteen assists and seven rebounds from Doncic, who converted fourteen of his 24 field goals and six three-pointers. The Slovenian had his second performance of at least forty points, after the 45 he scored on Sunday against Toronto.
Austin Reaves accompanied Doncic with 27 points, including four three-pointers in five attempts, and Walker Kessler contributed fifteen points and fifteen rebounds. The Lakers, who came into the day as the team with the best field goal percentage in the NBA, finished with 57.3% shooting and nineteen three-pointers.
Giannis had thirty points, twelve rebounds and seven assists, but he also committed seven turnovers and could not avoid Miami’s fifth defeat in seven games. Klay Thompson added nineteen points for the Heat, who saw their two-win streak snapped.
Philadelphia keeps the pace
In Philadelphia, the 76ers continued their great start to the season with a 126-107 victory against Tiago Splitter’s Chicago Bulls, led by Tyrese Maxey’s 26 points and eleven assists and Jaylen Brown’s 25 points and eleven rebounds.
LeBron James added fifteen points, seven rebounds and nine assists for the Sixers who won seven of their first eight games, while Chicago suffered its sixth loss in seven games.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won 112-117 in Cleveland with a performance of 43 points and eight assists from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Spanish Aday Mara touched the double-double with ten points, nine rebounds and a block in almost twenty minutes, in a team marked by the absences of Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, among others.
In Houston, the Rockets defeated the Boston Celtics 109-93 and took the lead in the West with a record of 7-1, their best start in twelve years.
Alperen Sengun led the victory with 26 points, ten assists and seven rebounds, while Hugo González repeated as a starter in Boston and contributed six points and three offensive rebounds.
Memphis’ first loss
In another NBA matchup, the Memphis Grizzlies lost their first game of the season after six victories, falling in overtime to the New Orleans Pelicans 134-135 despite Ty Jerome’s forty points, with 25 points from both Zion Williamson and Karlo Matkovic for the visitors.
In turn, Denver Nuggets fell 110-118 to the Portland Trail Blazers, driven by Deni Avdija’s 28 points, despite Jamal Murray’s 35 and Nikola Jokic’s 26.
The San Antonio Spurs chained their fifth straight victory by beating the Utah Jazz 119-97, with seventeen points, seven rebounds and eight assists from Dylan Harper. Victor Wembanyama added twelve points, eleven rebounds, five assists and three blocks, although he missed all five of his three-pointers.
