Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points and 16 rebounds, Jalen Brunson scored eight points down the stretch and finished with 17 as the New York Knicks beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-95.

Led by a strong showing from Karl-Anthony Towns, the Knicks outlasted a scrappy Brooklyn Nets squad in the battle for New York in a 99-95 slugfest. Towns led the way on offense with a strong 25 points and 16 rebounds along the way. OG Anunoby added 20 points along with Jalen Brunson 's 17 to go along the way.

Towns has missed the Knicks' last two games after injuring his Thumb during a Jan. 13 loss to the Detroit Pistons. The star center played through discomfort, posting 26 points and 12 rebounds on 7-of-17 shooting from the field, 4-of-9 from three and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. He declined to say whether he underwent X-rays following the loss.

Karl-Anthony Towns was impressive in the New York Knicks' hard-fought 99-95 win over the gritty Brooklyn Nets.

The Knicks maintained bragging rights over their crosstown rival on Tuesday night, defeating the Brooklyn Nets in a nail-biter, 99-95, at Barclays Center.

Brooklyn will try to end its seven-game home slide when the Nets play New York. The teams play Tuesday for the first time this season.

Even Shaq has been well impressed with the way Karl-Anthony Towns has been playing for the Knicks this season.

Here are the Brooklyn Nets player grades following Tuesday's 99-95 loss to the New York Knicks in Mikal Bridges' return to Brooklyn.

Perhaps the best indication of what’s important for these Knicks was the theme of Wednesday night’s postgame locker room interviews.

The New York Knicks have been on an absolute tear of late, most recently beating the Denver Nuggets 122-112. Their win over Denver marks their fifth-straight victory, and they’ve won those five games by a combined total of 83 points.

NBA trades are not all that uncommon, but when they involve superstar players, it certainly is big news and can be unexpected.