New York @ Brooklyn preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 24, 2019 ) Brooklyn 103, New York 101

The Brooklyn Nets seek a fifth straight win over their in-city rival when they host the New York Knicks on Thursday. The Nets are coming off a 122-112 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in the opener of their two-game homestand, riding Spencer Dinwiddie's 39 points to their 11th win in the last 16 games.

Garrett Temple added 25 points as Brooklyn overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to improve to 9-5 at home. "There wasn't much said at halftime," Temple told reporters of the slow start. "We knew we weren't playing with any energy in the first half. They were outrebounding us, doing everything better than us." The Knicks haven't done much better than anybody of late, losing three in a row while giving up an average of 124.3 points. Juluis Randle scored a season-high 35 points while the rest of the starters combined for 37 in a 121-115 loss to Washington on Monday.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), YES (Brooklyn)

ABOUT THE KNICKS (7-24): New York had a recent stretch of promise with three wins in four games - including two on the road - but the team appears to have reverted to the form it had while opening the season 4-20. "I think our approach the whole day was terrible," Randle told reporters Monday. "From shootaround on, I think we had a bad approach as a team collectively, top to bottom, myself included. We could have been better. We jumped out on them, got the lead and didn't sustain it." Elfrid Payton made his second straight start at point guard and handed out a season-high 12 assists in the loss.

ABOUT THE NETS (16-13): Veteran center DeAndre Jordan chipped in 12 points, a season-best 20 rebounds and six assists off the bench in the win over the Hawks and received praise from Temple. "You know what you're going to get out of D, a veteran guy that can really protect the rim, put pressure on the basket on the offensive end and get every rebound that comes off the rim," Temple told the media. "We need his veteran presence." Dinwiddie is averaging 26.1 points and 7.2 assists in 18 starts in place of Kyrie Irving (shoulder), who has yet to be cleared for contact.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Payton has 50 assists and six turnovers over a six-game stretch.

2. Knicks F Marcus Morris (Achilles) missed Monday's loss and is questionable for this one.

3. Brooklyn won the first two meetings this season by a combined six points and its last loss in the series came at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 29, 2018.

PREDICTION: Nets 118, Knicks 104