Jalen Brunson turned Wednesday night into a comeback clinic, and the Knicks needed every bit of it to escape with a win over the Bulls and improve to 2-3.
The captain was the engine behind the rally, pouring in 38 points on 13-of-25 shooting and 6-of-10 from three. He did his biggest damage after halftime, when 22 of those points came in the second half. Over the third and fourth quarters, he went 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-6 from deep.
Brunson wasn’t sharp at the rim, finishing 1-of-5 there, but he made up for it everywhere else, going 12-of-20 on his other shots. The six made threes mattered even more because he entered the night shooting 20.0% from beyond the arc, having gone 4-of-20 through his first four games. He also stacked his second straight game with seven assists, including five in the second half.
The Knicks’ offense really opened up with him on the floor late. In the final two quarters, they posted a 63.8% TS% with Brunson out there, hit 12-of-22 from three, and ran up a 157.9 offensive rating.
But Brunson wasn’t the only one who gave the Knicks a jolt.
Tyler Kolek kept making the most of his minutes while Jose Alvarado remained out with an ankle injury. The third-string point guard delivered another strong showing, especially in the third quarter, when he knocked down two threes, picked up an assist, and finished plus-7.
Over the second half, he logged 10:45 and the Knicks won his minutes by 12 points. He led the team with six assists after halftime and didn’t turn it over once. With Kolek on the floor in the final two quarters, the Knicks produced an 181.8 ORTG and a 74.1% TS%.
Jordan Clarkson also gave the bench a real lift. He opened with a solid second-quarter stretch, scoring six points in 4:48, but the fourth quarter was where he took over. Clarkson scored 12 points in that frame on 5-of-6 shooting, buried two threes, and added two steals.
He was productive in every phase: scoring, spacing the floor, finishing around the basket, and defending. The Knicks ripped off a 154.5 ORTG, 112.5 defensive rating, and +42.0 net rating with him on the court Wednesday.
Landry Shamet kept doing what he’s done all season - helping the Knicks win his minutes. The veteran wing played 32:21 off the bench, scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, hit 4-of-7 from three, and added five assists and two blocks.
The numbers behind his floor time were striking. The Knicks posted a 149.2 ORTG and 68.8% TS% with Shamet in the game, while the minutes without him dipped to a 94.7 ORTG and 41.9% TS%.
Not everyone came out of the night looking good. Mikal Bridges was stuck on the floor for only 13 minutes, and those minutes went poorly.
He shot 1-of-4, hit one three, and finished with more fouls than made shots, two to one. The Knicks lost his minutes by five points, and the rest of the game went much better without him.
OG Anunoby also landed on the wrong side of the ledger despite scoring 23 points and grabbing six rebounds. He made five of nine rim attempts, though the takes didn’t always look like the cleanest ones, even with the Knicks finishing at 1.36 points per OG Anunoby drive. He unofficially led the game with 11 drives.
The defensive split with Anunoby on and off the floor was rough. The Knicks allowed a 127.1 DRTG during his 30:30 on the court, compared to 115.2 with him on the bench. Through the season so far, the contrast has been even starker: a 94.1 DRTG and +30.7 NETRTG with Anunoby sitting across 73 minutes, versus a 120 DRTG and -13.8 NETRTG with him playing.
In Other News...
Knicks Just Got Pulled Into A Wild Karl-Anthony Towns Trade Idea
Miamis strange start has already turned the East into an early-season rumor mill, and the ripple effect could eventually reach New York. After the Heat opened 0-4 following their blockbuster deal for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis, analysts immediately began questioning how Antetokounmpo would fit alongside Bam Adebayo, a pairing that has not exactly looked seamless out of the gate.
That uncertainty has pushed one hypothetical back onto the board: a trade idea sending Adebayo and Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Knicks for Karl-Anthony Towns. Nothing has been confirmed on Miamis side, and the Heat may simply decide to let the new group breathe and build chemistry, but the mere fact that Towns is now part of the speculation says plenty about how quickly the season can turn. For New York, it is another reminder that a frontcourt storyline can shift fast when a rival is already under pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Trade Chatter Around KAT Just Got Much Louder
The early-season wobble around Karl-Anthony Towns has only added more fuel to the Knicks rumor mill, and now the conversation has gotten a lot bigger than one slow start. Former NBA player Matt Barnes floated a blockbuster scenario involving Towns and Giannis Antetokounmpo, connecting the idea to Miamis rough opening stretch and the fact that New York still has not reached an extension agreement with Towns.
It remains purely hypothetical, with no sign either side has actually engaged in trade talks, but that is the kind of chatter that tends to linger when two high-profile teams are both trying to stabilize. For the Knicks, the uncertainty around Towns future is already a storyline; throwing Antetokounmpo into the mix only sharpens the questions about where this team is headed and how long the current core might stay intact. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks White House Debate Just Put James Dolan In The Spotlight
The Knicks championship celebration has already run into an unexpected off-court question, with talk swirling around whether the team will make the traditional White House visit. Stephen A. Smith brought the issue into the open by discussing the possibility that some players may not be eager to go, and he noted that owner James Dolan is reportedly not pleased with the situation. Smith also said he has not confirmed those reports directly with players, but the conversation has quickly become part of the backdrop to a title that should have been all joy.
Dolans reported reaction has only added another layer, especially given his well-known friendship with Donald Trump and the idea that he may want the visit to happen. Jalen Brunson had already signaled that the decision would be made by the team, which leaves the matter in a familiar place for a championship group trying to manage both celebration and politics. For now, the interest is less about what the Knicks did on the court than about who gets to decide what comes next off it. [Read more 🡒]