In the first half, Sunday evening at Madison Square Garden, three of the Knicks“The starters had five points between them. But New York entered the interval with a four-point lead. How did they do it?
Jalen Brunson scored 27 points on efficient 10-of-15 shooting en route to a 47-point explosion in Knicks’ 132-125 win over the Heat.
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“Our guys just found a way,” head coach Mike Brown said after the victory.
And while Mikal Bridges scored 18 of his 24 in the first half before OG Anunoby turned a scoreless first half into 18 points in the second, it all came down to Brunson.
“You struggle a little bit offensively, you want to have a league MVP on your side,” Brown said of Brunson. “For him to score 47, including 15-of-26, 6-of-13 from the three-point line, 11-of-11 from the free-throw line, while dishing out eight assists, again, I have to mention it, but that’s what he’s capable of, and that’s what MVPs are supposed to do on nights like tonight.”
And he did it all without turning the ball over once.
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“No turnovers are what I’m looking for,” Brunson said. “Obviously, sometimes when you’re aggressive, you make aggressive mistakes. Passive mistakes, I can’t live with that. But I just try to keep the ball as much as I can and not give it to the other team.”
It was Brunson’s 20th 40-point game since joining the Knicks and the most points he has scored with the MSG team.
“He’s a special player, I think we all know that.” Cities of Karl-Anthony said. “It doesn’t surprise me when he has nights like that.”
Heat head coach Eric Spoelstra called Brunson an “incredible competitor.”
“If you want to beat a big competitor, you have to perform above and beyond,” Spoelstra said. “It’s possible, but you can’t just play well, you can’t just compete well, you can’t just be there. You’ve got to put him away. You’ve got to put your stuff away. And he’s going to put his stamp on it. That’s what great players do.
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“He has a great talent for it. He’s relentless.”
Brunson did so while playing 38 minutes, which may seem low compared to his numbers from last year, something Brown doesn’t hope to do consistently.
“You try to sit them out as long as you can,” Brown said. “But if you feel the game is slipping, it’s my job to help us win in the best way possible.
“…It’s just a matter of knowing that I know we’re in a little situation and we have to keep fighting to get out of it, get our feet back under us. And that’s me throwing it out there, knowing we have to get this game. I tried to make him sit out as long as possible. (But) ‘Let’s go get this game.’
