As Jay-Z once said, the city is under new management.

The Knicks got better at the trade deadline and the Nets got significantly worse. That was obvious Monday night (Tuesday AEDT), the best players now residing on Broadway rather than in Brooklyn.

Without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, the Nets are no longer title contenders. They may not even be good enough to avoid the play-in round of the playoffs. The Knicks showcased their new-found superiority over their city rivals, coasting to a 124-106 victory at the Garden to move within two games of the fifth-place Nets.

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They are also now just a half-game behind the Heat for sixth with one game left, in Atlanta against the Hawks on Wednesday, before the nine-day All-Star break.

Ben Simmons played just 13 minutes with two points and delivered an almost eerie repeat of his infamous refusal to shoot in a game 7 against Atlanta a few seasons ago.

On this occasion in the first quarter Simmons was questioned after having what looked like a lane to the basket, but instead passing to a flat-footed Nic Claxton.

The Knicks snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Nets in emphatic fashion, as Jalen Brunson was by far the best player on the floor, exploding for 40 points on 15 of 21 shooting along with five assists and no turnovers. New addition Josh Hart continued to impress as a Knick, adding 27 points along with five rebounds, and Julius Randle chipped in 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

The Nets, meanwhile, fell to 1-2 since the stunning Durant trade to the Suns, and were run off the court in the final 17 minutes. They held a two-point lead with 5:07 left in the third quarter, and were promptly outscored, 41-20, over the next 13 minutes.

With 4:15 left, Nets coach Jacque Vaughn threw up the flag, emptying his bench. His team managed just 45 second-half points and shot 40 per cent from the field over the final 24 minutes. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 28 for the Nets (33-24), but was held to eight after halftime.

The Knicks (32-27) made Dinwiddie look like a star in the first half, allowing the Nets guard to go off for 20 points on 12 shots in a disjointed opening 24 minutes. He poured in 13 points in the second quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers.

The Knicks finished the first quarter and started the second well, putting together an 18-5 run that included seven points from Hart. But they couldn’t sustain it in a second quarter that saw them out-rebounded by six and allow four offensive rebounds.

It was an isolation-heavy half for the Knicks, who managed just six assists and were frequently stagnant, taking too long to get into their first action. They only attempted five free throws, 10 fewer than the visiting and far more aggressive Nets.

Brunson and Randle combined for 33 points on 13 of 23 shooting, while everyone else was held to 25 points. Barrett was one of the main culprits, not only shooting 0-for-5, but failing to record a rebound, assist or steal.

The ball moved much better to start the third quarter for the Knicks — they had three assists over the first 3:06 — and it translated into a 12-2 run. They also finished the period strong, as the Villanova boys — Brunson and Hart — scored 11 of the team’s last 14 points. Brunson, in the middle of a heater, hit a step-back 3-pointer in the final seconds, sending the Knicks to the final quarter with a 10-point lead. At that point, he had 36 points on 14 of 19 shooting and six made 3s in eight attempts.

This article was originally published at the New York Post and republished with permission.

JOKIC JUST MISSES FEAT BUT NUGGETS EXTEND LEAD

Nikola Jokic narrowly missed out on his 21st triple double of the season as the Denver Nuggets battled to a 112-108 road victory over the Miami Heat.

Two-time NBA MVP Jokic finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists as Denver stretched their lead at the top of the Western Conference to five games.

Denver, who improved to 40-18, trailed by nine points after a shaky first quarter but roared back in the second to outscore Miami 38-26 for a slender 65-62 lead at the break.

The Nuggets held on to advantage lead for most of the second half and although Miami got within three points in the final minute, Denver held on for victory.

While Jokic led the scoring, Denver’s balanced offence spread the points around with seven players finishing in double figures and sharing 34 assists between them.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 17 points while Bruce Brown had 16. “I think we like to play for each other,” Jokic said afterwards. “We try to find open guys and we’re just going to work for the best shot possible.

“The team buys into that and that’s why I think we have so many assists,” the Serbian star said.

Jimmy Butler led Miami’s scorers with 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists while Max Strus had 23 points and Bam Adebayo 19.

The Lakers fell 127-115 to Portland with coach Darwin Ham mocked post-game for a strange claim.

Asked about the Trail Blazers getting plenty of open looks, Ham said: “We checked the analytical data at halftime. And, according to that data, our defensive shot quality we would have been #1 in the league.”

However a video compiled by Twitter user WorldWideWob showed all 17 threes the Blazers made in the first half and it’s unclear how that would be possible, unless the Lakers had sorted the category wrong and they were actually last.

Elsewhere on Monday, Donovan Mitchell erupted for 41 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers bagged their seventh straight win with a gritty 117-109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Mitchell’s sixth 40-point game of the season helped the Cavs tighten their grip on fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland are now 38-22 for the season, leading fifth-placed Brooklyn, who were thumped 124-106 by the New York Knicks earlier Monday.

Jarrett Allen (17 points) and Darius Garland (16) were Cleveland’s other principal scorers while Keldon Johnson led the scoring for San Antonio with 25 points.

“The biggest thing is just continuing to fight,” Mitchell said afterwards. “We didn’t play our best basketball, regardless of how San Antonio’s been playing, they made it tough on us.

“You’ve got to give the credit for their performance but at the end of the day we found a way to execute and that’s big time.”

Cleveland will now look ahead to their final game before this weekend’s All-Star break, with a road clash against Eastern Conference rivals Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Mitchell believes the 76ers will have added motivation after the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl defeat to Kansas City on Sunday.

“That’s going to be a playoff game in a hostile environment,” Mitchell said. “They just lost the Super Bowl so they’ll probably be a little bit fired up over there.

“We’ve got to go out there and hold our own and play the basketball we’ve been playing.” The Sixers meanwhile warmed up for their date with the Cavs with a 123-104 blowout over the Houston Rockets earlier Monday.

James Harden led the Sixers scoring against his former club with 28 points and 10 assists while Tyrese Maxey impressed with 26 points off the bench after making 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Sixers talisman Joel Embiid added 23 points while Jalen Green led the Rockets with 29 points.

The Sixers are just one game ahead of the in-form Cavaliers heading into Wednesday’s game.

NBA SCORES for Tuesday February 14

Hawks 138, Hornets 144

Spurs 109, Cavaliers 117

Jazz 123, Pacers 117

Rockets 104, Sixers 123

Nuggets 112, Heat 108

Nets 106, Knicks 124

Magic 100, Bulls 91

Pelicans 103, Thunder 100

Timberwolves 124, Mavericks 121

Wizards 126, Warriors 135

Lakers 115, Trail Blazers 127