Knicks easily handle tanking Nets for fourth straight win

As easy as it was supposed to be. The Knicks handled their business against the tanking Nets, pummeling their rival behind a balanced attack in a wire-to-wire conquest, 134-98. Karl-Anthony Towns led the scoring with 28 points for the Knicks (6-3), who won their fourth consecutive game while improving to 6-0 at home. Just like last week against the terrible Wizards, Mike Brown’s squad didn’t play down to the competition.They squashed it. The Knicks started with an 8-0 run after tipoff.

They led by 15 at the break and 37 in the third quarter.A steady beatdown. Towns also had 12 rebounds.

Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each had 19 points in less than 30 minutes apiece.Mitchell Robinson played just 16 minutes and his impact was noteworthy — the Knicks outscored Brooklyn by 40 points when the center was on the floor. Once billed as a rivalry, this intra-borough contest has lost all its luster, the juice of a steamrolled grape.Long gone are the antagonists Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Mikhail Prokhorov.

They’ve been replaced in Brooklyn by a young, nondescript squad built to tank by the teflon Sean Marks.The Nets (1-9) are gunning for a first overall draft pick and have acted appropriately, handing the keys to defensive-averse players like Michael Porter Jr.and Cam Thomas (who was injured for Sunday’s game). The only interesting matchup at MSG involved the head coaches, with Brooklyn’s Jordi Fernandez facing his mentor Mike Brown.

The two were together in Cleveland and Sacramento, with Fernandez serving as the understudy. “Great young coach,” Brown said of Fernandez “He’s got a young team obviously so they’ve gotta figure some things out.Any time I get a chance to see him, I always love to see him.

But I want to kick his ass.”Brown followed up with a drubbing.The Knicks scored 77 points in the first half, with five players in double-digits by the break.  Sign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Spo...