Nets get pushed around as Okafor sits

First the Nets saw the Knicks fans take over Barclays Center. Then the Nets let their rivals take over the game.

Brooklyn got beaten up and battered around in a 111104 loss to the Knicks on Thursday night.

“Similar to the first game, they turned up their pressure, their physicality, really. They were the much more physical team, more aggressive,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “They were beating us on the boards, and just had another level of physicality we didn’t match.”

Playing at home and in front of a sellout crowd of 17,732 at Barclays Center, the Nets were less physical. Less intense. Less gritty. Just plain less.

“Yeah, they did a great job,” Spencer Dinwiddie said. “That’s what their M.O. is. That’s how they play, and they stuck to their style and we weren’t able to combat that.”

Dinwiddie had team-highs of 26 points and seven assists to go with seven rebounds, but couldn’t help the Nets getting eaten up inside. Rugged power forward Trevor Booker might have, but he was traded away for center Jahlil Okafor, who has yet to play for the Nets and watched from the bench.

“[Thursday] was a little bit of a disappointment. We didn’t compete on the boards,” said Atkinson, citing Kyle O’Quinn’s six offensive rebounds. “They had a physicality and a force we didn’t match.”

The Nets couldn’t keep the Knicks off the offensive glass or away from easy putbacks, outscored 22-10 on secondchance points.

After falling behind by 18 points in the first half, the Nets were down 63-50 at the break. They stormed out of the locker room with a 27-10 run to take the lead.

The Nets went up 77-73 on a Dinwiddie drive, and 82-79 on a DeMarre Carroll 3pointer. But they couldn’t hold on, coughing up an 8-0 run to end the third.

Courtney Lee hit a 3pointer to make it 87-82 going into the fourth quarter, and another to pad the Knicks’ cushion to 100-92 with just 4:21 to play.

It begs the question whether it was a fluke or a pattern. And if it’s a pattern, how long can they let Okafor sit?

“Yeah they were definitely more physical in terms of getting all the offensive re- bounds,” Carroll said. “That’s where we lost the game.”

It was a replay of the Nets’ Oct. 27 loss at the Garden, where they got pushed around in the paint.

“That’s how they won the first game in New York [at the Garden]. They were the more physical [team].” said Allen Crabbe, who had just four points on 1-of-8 shooting. “They just brought a lot of energy [Thursday], got a lot of offensive boards.”