Knicks 136, Wizards 132 (OT): Remember when they was us?
Jalen Brunson did it all as the Knicks won the second leg of a back-to-back and first of two straight in D.C.
There are 55 reasons to believe in this New York Knicks team. They all come courtesy of Jalen Brunson, who put on a show in last night’s comeback against the Washington Wizards. Or, if you’re a cautious optimist, call it 85, counting the 30-point contribution of Karl-Anthony Towns as well.
On the second night of a back-to-back, a bout between title chasers and tank commanders went to overtime. Without its two most-accomplished players in Jordan Poole (having a career-best year) and Kyle Kuzma (having a career-worst), Washington still shot 44% from 3-point land and outrebounded the Knicks by one. The first half finished tied at 60 without incident or notoriety. New York was lucky to be hanging in, what with the defensive despondence they showed over the first 24 minutes. But then came the third quarter, and the fourth, and overtime, which all had one thing in common: Brunson buckets.
The captain scored 42 of his 55 over 24 of the final 29 minutes, kickstarted by 19 in the third.
Brunson had a 14-point fourth, joined in the fun that final frame by Towns, who at one point scored 10 straight, including this Dirk Nowitzki-esque fadeaway.
At the end of the day, come overtime, Brunson retook the reins and steered New York home.
Washington didn’t have Brunson. Their leading scorer was Julian Champagnie, who for all his 31 points didn’t touch the ball inside the three-minute mark of the fourth. Disjointed and downtrodden at the hands of one of the NBA’s leaders in “made you work for it and still got it” buckets, the Wizards weren’t walking into their first overtime game of the year against the Knicks and leaving with a win. Not on their home floor, not with New York on the second night of a back-to-back and especially not with Brunson as star of the show.
Notes
Shoutout to Precious Achiuwa, who had a vicious slam in the first half. He finished with three points, seven rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes, including five very important minutes in the first after Towns fell into early foul trouble for the umpteenth time.
Speaking of KAT: yeah, the fouls are annoying. My train of thought on this – you can take it, but you’re encouraged to leave it – is that a player like Towns, coming from his only ever NBA home, arrived in the Big Apple with quite the negative reputation. He’s beaten those allegations time and time again this season. If we have to stomach 10% of the narrative from his Timberwolves days, so be it. But also make sure to ask me about this the next time he fouls out in a loss. We are all prisoners of the moment — as humans, but especially as sports fans.
OG Anunoby finished with just nine points in 42 minutes. Is the elbow flaring up? Maybe. I’m not a fucking doctor. But I trust the front office that assembled this team, and I trust the player who tried to Willis Reed himself through a Game 7 last May. Anunoby is in a slump, maybe, but never on the defensive end. And when Tom Thibodeau is your head coach, that will always outweigh missed shots.
The past 10 games, Miles McBride hasn’t found a rhythm on offense. He’s had some highs, for sure. But I felt like he was the only one who wasn’t playing within the offense against Washington. His shooting numbers over the last 10 games: 26-of-73 from the floor (36%), 15-of-44 from deep (34%). I say all that to just reproduce my feelings re: Anunoby – if he’s competing on defense, I trust the rest to follow. Deuce, especially, has made it too far from his days at West Virginia to fall off a map in year four.
Josh Hart is an absolute maniac. I don’t say that for any reason that stems from this game directly — just a reminder. He finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and a steal in 38 minutes, his third-straight double-double. He’s only been held to single-digit scoring once all season, last month in Chicago.
Landry Shamet looks damn good for a guy who’s played two games this season. I really appreciate the way he’s shown up. Easy to see why Thibs is endeared to him.
Mikal Bridges, take a bow. He finished this one as the third banana to Brunson and Towns with a wildly respectable 21 plus three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Despite all the shot-mechanics anxiety and criticism, Bridges’ three-point accuracy is at 37%. Last year, it was . . . 37%. Career? 37%. It’s been a wild ride. But weirdly, I’ve enjoyed it.
Fun editor’s note, care of MSG: after Bridges’ Christmas Day scoring bonanza, the Knicks are the first team in NBA history to have four different players score 40+ in a game before New Year’s Day.
New York is 22-10. Let that sink in. 12 games over .500 and riding seven straight wins, all before the New Year. If you’d told me that in September, I’d have been thrilled. I’m thrilled today.
The Knicks have been the Wizards for so much of my life, anchored by overpaid role players and veterans on the tail ends of their career. We even had our own Bilal Coulibaly! But since Brunson arrived those fateful 900 days ago, New York has jumped the fence. And while the grass may be the same shade of green, at least we’ve got a working lawn mower. Teams like Washington are pulling it up by hand, or going at each blade with a pair of scissors. A win is a win is a win is a win is a win, yes. But overtime wins don’t need to be qualified. When the five-minute buzzer starts at the top of the period, it’s anyone’s game. Saturday night in D.C., it was Brunson’s.