Brooklyn @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 26, 2019 ) New York 94, Brooklyn 82

Kyrie Irving's best game since returning from a lengthy layoff helped the Brooklyn Nets snap a five-game losing streak Saturday night. The star guard and his teammates will try to muster up some energy when they follow up the overtime win at Detroit with a visit to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks on Sunday.

Irving scored 45 points on 15-of-30 shooting while handing out seven assists and turning the ball over just once in a 121-111 victory against the Pistons, Brooklyn's first road victory since Dec. 17. "We needed it bad, but that's how hard we have to play," Irving told reporters. The Knicks followed up a 20-point win at Cleveland with close losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors to begin their three-game homestand, and their last three setbacks have come by single digits against teams that entered Saturday a combined 56 games over .500. "Well, it's tough because we competed the entire game," forward Marcus Morris Sr. told reporters after Friday's 118-112 loss to the Raptors. "Definitely tough to keep losing like that."

TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: YES, MSG

ABOUT THE NETS (19-25): Jarrett Allen finished the OT win with 20 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots in a season-high 40 minutes, but it was Irving's all-around effort that made the difference. "I thought in the first half he was a little bit overzealous," coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters of Irving. "I didn't think the ball was moving like it should have. I thought in the second half and overtime he obviously made shots, the 45 points, whatever, but the passes, the trust in your teammate part. And then great players make free throws at the end of the game." Irving scored 12 points in a span of just over two minutes in a critical stretch of the third quarter and hit 4-of-4 free throws in the extra session.

ABOUT THE KNICKS (12-34): Morris and Damyean Dotson scored 21 points apiece in Friday's loss. Dotson has been given an increased opportunity with rookie guard RJ Barrett (ankle) sidelined, and the University of Houston product has responded by averaging 16.7 points off the bench over the last three games while making 11-of-20 from 3-point range. The team announced Saturday that Barrett, who has already missed four games, transitioned from crutches to a walking boot and will miss at least another week.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Knicks PG Elfrid Payton registered his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 assists in Friday's loss.

2. Nets C DeAndre Jordan (finger) has missed four straight games and is day-to-day.

3. Brooklyn took the first two meetings this season before it was held to 26.9 percent shooting in a 94-82 loss to New York at home Dec. 26.

PREDICTION: Knicks 108, Nets 105