With Yi Jianlian unable to get the ball, Brook Lopez took matters into his own hands. He attempted a shot, but David Lee read it perfectly and swatted it away.
The Knicks capitalized with a fast-break counterattack. Lopez, desperate to stop them, wrapped his arms around Lee for a blatant foul. As a lumbering big man, Lopez couldn't keep up with the Knicks' pace, and a breakout would leave the Nets in a five-on-four mismatch.
The Nets had already fallen into the Knicks' rhythm in the first quarter. By the end, the score was 34-19, a 15-point Knicks lead.
Yi Jianlian started hot, hitting 5 of 7 shots for 10 points, but Lian Dao's tightened defense forced him to miss his last two attempts. That clampdown let the Knicks pull away.
In the second quarter, Lian Dao stayed on, leading the bench unit. After a strong December, Coach D'Antoni settled on his rotation: play early, rest in the third quarter's second half, and return in the fourth if needed. This kept him fresh to close games.
Nets coach Kiki Vandeweghe saw Lian Dao still on the floor and guessed the Knicks' plan. To counter, he rested Yi Jianlian, subbing in Bobby Simmons, hoping to unleash Yi later when Lian Dao sat, clawing back points.
That hinged on surviving the Knicks' second-quarter onslaught.
The Knicks leaned into defensive counterattacks. Darko Milicic hounded Lopez with physical play, disrupting his every move. On the quarter's opening possession, Lopez's mid-range shot clanked off the rim under Milicic's pressure. Millsap grabbed the rebound over Simmons.
Millsap passed to Lian Dao, who spun and charged upcourt. From midcourt, he whipped a low, long pass to Tony Douglas, streaking ahead like a runaway colt. Douglas caught it, took one step, and laid it in.
The Nets faltered again. Devin Harris lobbed a pass to Lopez, but Millsap intercepted it mid-flight. Buzzing with adrenaline, Millsap barreled toward the basket. His shaky ball-handling led to a stumble, but he recovered and flicked the ball to Lian Dao, who'd caught up, avoiding a turnover.
Lian Dao took the pass as Simmons and Terrence Williams collapsed on him in a double-team. Unfazed, he kept moving and lofted a high pass toward the rim. Milicic, parked under the basket, rose and slammed it home.
When Milicic was on, he was a menace off the Knicks' bench.
Next, Simmons drove for a layup, only to get stuffed by Millsap. Larry Hughes scooped the loose ball and handed it to Lian Dao, who took off for the frontcourt.
"What's this?" Lian Dao thought. "Am I just a passing machine now? Who's the point guard here? Feels like I'm running the show while they all play shooting guard."
Grumbling aside, he embraced the role. From beyond the three-point line, he faked a shot, spun, and bounced a pass to Hughes cutting inside. Hughes caught it, glided to the hoop, and finished with a flashy layup.
Three minutes into the second quarter, the Knicks turned Nets mistakes into a 6-0 run. All three scores came off Lian Dao's playmaking, setting up teammates with precision.
Vandeweghe squirmed on the bench. He didn't care much about wins, but a blowout under his watch would sting. Word was, Nets owner Bruce Ratner was eager to sell. Talks with Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov were advancing, with 80% of the team's shares sold for $200 million and the final 20% in negotiation.
Ratner, a U.S. real estate mogul, had bought the Nets, envious of James Dolan's Knicks profits. Instead, the team bled $380 million in five years, worsened by the 2008 financial crisis. Now, he wanted out, eager to sell to Prokhorov and bolster his struggling real estate empire.
A home massacre by the Knicks could tank the Nets' value and Vandeweghe's job. In his mind, he pictured Ratner hiring a hitman to dump him off the East Coast.
While Vandeweghe's thoughts spiraled, Simmons bricked a shot. The Knicks pounced again.
Watching Simmons flounder, Vandeweghe's frustration boiled over. He signaled Harris to foul, forcing a dead ball. Simmons came off, and Vandeweghe berated him, barely holding back from swinging.
Then, Yi Jianlian checked back in.
Right away, Yi Jianlian slipped a screen, shook his defender, and charged the rim for a dunk. Confidence oozed from him, as every touch felt like a bucket.
The rest of the Nets, however, were a mess. Lopez, decent in the first quarter, crumbled under Milicic's second-quarter pressure. His shot deserted him. At 7 feet, Lopez should've owned the paint, but Milicic's grit gave him fits.
In the second quarter, Lopez managed just 2 points, both from free throws, and 1 rebound.
The Knicks kept clicking. Lian Dao dished to Millsap for a mid-range jumper. Yi Jianlian answered, using a pick-and-roll to sink another mid-range shot.
Millsap sighed. Yi Jianlian's touch was unreal today. Despite his best efforts, Millsap's height disadvantage made stopping those shots tough when Yi was this hot.
Lian Dao clapped Millsap on the shoulder. "Don't sweat it. I've got him. You take Terrence Williams."
On the next play, Lian Dao drained a three from outside. Then he glued himself to Yi Jianlian, cutting off his touches once more.
Terrence Williams, relieved to avoid Lian Dao, saw Millsap sagging off a full step. "What, you don't respect my jumper?" Williams fumed. "You didn't give Yi Jianlian that space. Think I can't shoot?"
He pulled up, fired, and clanged it off the rim. Strike one.