Rick Brunson stood on the courtroom throughout a timeout, fingers in his pockets, eyes locked on the tunnel main from the house group locker room to Madison Sq. Backyard’s hardwood.
He was ready. Watching. Looking out.
Moments earlier, his son — Knicks captain and soon-to-be two-time All-Star Jalen Brunson — had pushed into the paint, absorbed contact, and floated a left-handed shot. However the aftermath was regarding. Brunson grimaced, hunched over, and clutched his proper shoulder.
Taking a knee briefly earlier than signaling to the bench, Brunson walked straight to the locker room, leaving the courtroom and silencing a sold-out MSG crowd.
Rick Brunson adopted. The elder Brunson, additionally an assistant coach for the Knicks, left the bench to test on his son. He quickly returned to his put up however made one other journey to the locker room shortly after.
After which, Rick re-emerged from the tunnel he’d been fixated on. This time, he wasn’t alone. Jalen Brunson, the participant carrying the load of New York’s championship aspirations on his shoulders, jogged out behind him.
The MSG trustworthy erupted, rising to their toes in a deafening standing ovation. MVP chants echoed as Brunson walked straight to the scorer’s desk, checked himself again into the sport, and obtained again to enterprise: getting buckets.
“The best fan base in the whole world right here,” Brunson stated in his walk-off interview. “Without a doubt.”
And the followers had each purpose to chant.
Brunson scorched the Bucks with 23 factors within the first quarter alone. He added 4 extra within the second and 5 to begin the third earlier than his transient exit. Then he returned to complete with 44 factors on 16-of-26 capturing, together with 5-of-10 from downtown, in a dominant 140-106 blowout victory over Milwaukee in Sunday’s matinee matchup.
“Whatever it takes to win,” Brunson stated postgame. “I was reading how things were being played, and I kind of got off to a hot start.”
The Knicks snapped a troubling skid with the win, securing a much-needed confidence enhance towards a Bucks group additionally looking for consistency.
New York’s 4 losses in its earlier 5 video games included an embarrassing house defeat to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, which dropped the Knicks to 1-7 towards top-tier NBA title contenders (Boston, Cleveland, Oklahoma Metropolis, Houston, Denver, and Dallas). In contrast, they’re 11-7 towards Play-In-level groups and 12-1 towards lottery-bound squads.
This inconsistency underscores the problem forward. The Knicks are coming into a brutal stretch: 24 of their subsequent 27 video games are towards groups vying for a playoff or Play-In spot, together with seven matchups towards true title contenders.
However towards Milwaukee, the Knicks discovered their type — and a few much-needed assist from the bench.
Miles McBride, listed as questionable with a strained hamstring, performed on Sunday. But it was Cameron Payne who made probably the most noise off the bench, torching Milwaukee for 18 factors in simply 14 minutes.
Karl-Anthony Cities delivered a monster recreation with 30 factors, 18 rebounds, and 4 assists, whereas OG Anunoby and Josh Hart chipped in 11 factors apiece.
Defensively, the Knicks stifled two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, holding him to 24 factors on 10-of-21 capturing — effectively under his season common. The Bucks as a group struggled from deep, capturing simply 29.4% (10-of-34) from past the arc. In the meantime, the Knicks capitalized, sinking 18 threes on 41 makes an attempt.
The sport turned within the second quarter. The Knicks outscored the Bucks 39-29, then maintained their barrage when Brunson returned from his shoulder scare. Head coach Tom Thibodeau pulled his star guard with just below six minutes left within the fourth, Cities shortly after, and emptied the bench with over three minutes remaining.
The decisive victory couldn’t have come at a greater time for a group getting ready for the second leg of a back-to-back towards the feisty Detroit Pistons on Monday.
The early tip off and blowout win ought to pay dividends because the Knicks navigate this grueling stretch of their schedule.
For now, the highlight shines on Brunson — the center and soul of this group — and his capacity to steer New York by the gauntlet forward.
Initially Revealed: January 12, 2025 at 5:53 PM EST
