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Nets vs. Knicks final score: Brooklyn wins in MSG, 88-85

The newest budding rivalry in the NBA continues to be absolutely awesome. Brooklyn won its first game at Madison Square Garden on Monday in exciting fashion, 88-85.

Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

After blowing a six-point lead in the game's final minutes, the Brooklyn Nets rebounded to beat the New York Knicks, 88-85, on Monday in the latest thrilling game of basketball's newest brewing rivalry. It's the first win for the Nets in Madison Square Garden since the franchise moved to Brooklyn before this season.

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Even in a turnover-riddled performance for the Nets, they managed to beat one of the league's better teams on the road. New York had a 19-5 advantage in turnovers during the game, but the Nets rode rebounding and three-point shooting to victory.

Despite knocking down half of their 24 shot attempts from three-point range, the Nets struggled badly on shots inside the arc. Brooklyn made just 38 percent of their two-point shot attempts, the kind of poor shooting that makes it pretty difficult to beat good teams on the road.

The Nets made up for their shooting struggles on the boards, though, and prevented the Knicks from getting their outside shots to go in. New York shot just 6-of-21 from three-point range on Monday, including a last-second attempt from J.R. Smith that would've forced overtime.

Carmelo Anthony didn't always have his shot going, but he finished the game with solid numbers -- 29 points and a season-high seven assists. Anthony needed 29 shots to get his points, though, as the Nets often forced him into difficult shots.

Other than Anthony, no other Knicks starter took more than six shots or scored more than 11 points. Smith added 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting and Amar'e Stoudemire recorded 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting to supplement an underwhelming offensive effort from the starters.