Jalen Brunson checked out his left hand, gave it a kiss and raised it to the sky.
Brunson had simply used that left hand to drill a 3-pointer — his fourth of the evening — with 13 seconds left within the first quarter, punctuating a 19-point opening interval for the Knicks level guard in opposition to the Charlotte Hornets.
And that was simply the beginning.
Brunson’s early output set the tone Thursday for one more balanced offensive explosion by the Knicks, who swatted away the Hornets, 125-101, at Madison Sq. Backyard for his or her fourth consecutive win.
Brunson completed with 24 factors and 5 assists in 27 minutes, nevertheless it might have been a fair larger evening for the Knicks captain had he not checked out for good on the 2:39 mark of the third quarter with an obvious again damage.
“I feel amazing,” Brunson mentioned afterward. “I’ll see how I feel tomorrow.”
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau mentioned throughout his postgame press convention that he had not but spoken to Brunson concerning the play on which he obtained banged up, however he mentioned the purpose guard might have returned.
After disappearing into the Knicks’ locker room, Brunson returned to the sideline within the fourth quarter with a wrap round his decrease midsection when the rating was already out of attain.
It was an in any other case wonderful evening for the Knicks (14-8), who obtained at the least 18 factors from all 5 starters.
Karl-Anthony Cities led the Knicks with 27 factors and 16 rebounds, whereas OG Anunoby scored 25.
Mikal Bridges added 19 factors and 7 assists, and Josh Hart had 18 factors, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
The Knicks shot 53.9% from the sphere and 54.5% from 3-point vary.
“I just think we have the basketball IQ and everything to go out there and do what’s asked of us,” Brunson mentioned. “We know we have a lot of weapons out there. We know we have a lot of threats all over the court. We just have to play off each other.”
Thursday marked the Knicks’ second assembly in six days with the short-handed Hornets, in opposition to whom they eked out a 99-98 win in Charlotte final Friday.
The Hornets (6-16) remained undermanned for Thursday’s rematch, with main scorer LaMelo Ball and key contributors Miles Bridges, Tre Mann and Grant Williams nonetheless out with accidents.
However early on, the Hornets proved pesky as soon as once more.
Charlotte used a 16-2 run to leap out to a 20-7 lead — a quick begin by which Brandon Miller appeared the a part of final 12 months’s No. 2 general decide.
Miller made three 3-pointers, transformed a three-point play and turned a slick spin transfer right into a driving dunk throughout a 16-point first quarter.
That arrange an early scoring duel with Brunson, who made all 4 of his first-quarter 3-pointers after the 5:30 mark to maintain the rating shut.
His last 3-pointer — a stepback arrange by a Cities display — capped a 10-0 run for the Knicks, turning what was as soon as a 32-20 deficit right into a 32-30 sport.
Brunson scored 16 of the Knicks’ first 22 factors and completed the quarter 5-of-6 from the sphere, together with 4-of-4 from behind the arc. The remainder of the Knicks shot 4-of-12 for 11 factors.
“He knew we were in a hole, and I think his threes sort of closed that gap,” Thibodeau mentioned. “That settled us down, too, and that got us going.”
The second quarter was far more balanced.
Hart scored 14 factors within the interval. Bridges added 11. Brunson didn’t rating — and even try a shot — however completed the body with 4 assists.
And Anunoby delivered dunks on back-to-back possessions with lower than two minutes remaining earlier than halftime, turning a 60-58 deficit right into a 62-60 lead for the Knicks.
They by no means trailed once more.
Cities on all they heads pic.twitter.com/LL6I23H9hK
The Knicks pulled away with a 25-4 run within the third quarter, throughout which Cities posterized 6-9 ahead Moussa Diabate with a driving one-handed dunk, drew a foul and transformed the three-point play.
“It’s magical to be here in the Mecca, to be here in MSG, to have the crowd react like that to a play that you make,” Cities mentioned of the group’s rapturous applause after his spotlight dunk. “Obviously, it is a momentum changer and it’s a boost to the morale of this team and the energy of this team.”
On the subsequent possession, Cities transformed one other three-point play.
It was that sort of quarter for the Knicks, who outscored the Hornets, 38-16, within the third. Anunoby scored 15 factors within the quarter, throughout which he made three 3-pointers and blocked a pair of Charlotte 3-point makes an attempt on the identical possession.
“The plays that he was making, he’s the only one that can make them,” Thibodeau mentioned. “He’s everywhere. He’s flying around. … He just covers so much ground.”
The Knicks have now scored at the least 118 factors in three consecutive video games. They’ve shot higher than 50% from the sphere and obtained double-digit scoring from all 5 starters of their final two.
They’ll look to increase their successful streak Saturday evening after they host the Detroit Pistons to shut out a four-game homestand.
Initially Printed: December 5, 2024 at 10:05 PM EST
