Brunson’s double-nickel buys Knicks gutsy win
Jalen Brunson delivered a 55-point masterpiece as the New York Knicks rallied from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Washington Wizards, 136-132, in overtime on Saturday.
Brunson scored 42 of his points in the second half and overtime to help the Knicks fend off the lowly Wizards for a seventh straight NBA victory.
“I read the game, and then I find a way to impact it,” he said. “Tonight it was scoring.”
It was his third 50-point game as a Knick, and New York needed all of his output against a Washington team playing without Kyle Kuzma and their leading scorer Jordan Poole.
Justin Champagnie put up a career-high 31 points for the Wizards, who led by as many as 11 in the third quarter and took an eight-point lead into the fourth.
They pushed their lead to 100-90 early in the final period and, after a pair of lead changes, the Wizards were up, 119-114, with 1:07 remaining.
Brunson converted a three-point play then tied it at 119-119 with another driving basket and they went to overtime, where Brunson and Josh Hart each drilled a pair of clutch free throws to close it out.
“We were a step behind until the fourth,” Brunson said. “[We] found a way to turn it up and came out with the win.”
Brunson connected on 18 of 31 shots from the floor and made three of the Knicks’ 10 three-pointers. He was particularly pleased to hit 16 of his 17 free throws—including making five of six from the line in overtime.
“It’s great, knowing I haven’t made a bunch of free throws this year, I’ve been terrible. But I made it when it was needed,” Brunson said.
Elsewhere in the league, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points and Jalen Williams added 20 for the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder in a comfortable 106-94 victory over the Hornets in Charlotte.
It was a 10th straight regular-season win for the Thunder—a run broken up by a loss to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup final, which didn’t count toward the season schedule.
Bulls gore Bucks
In Chicago, Josh Giddey scored 23 points with 15 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Bulls in a 116-111 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, who were without ailing star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Nikola Vucevic added 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls.
Los Angeles star LeBron James was also sidelined by illness, but the Lakers, fueled by 36 points from Anthony Davis, beat the Sacramento Kings, 132-122.
Davis added 15 rebounds and eight assists and Austin Reaves scored 26 points with 16 assists for the Lakers.
In San Francisco, Jonathan Kuminga matched his career high with 34 points and drilled three free throws in the final 29 seconds to help the Golden State Warriors hold off the Phoenix Suns, 109-105.
Dennis Schroder struggled much of the night but produced a huge three-pointer with 1:23 remaining, then forced a turnover and made a pair of clutch free throws for the Warriors, who snapped a three-game skid.
Stephen Curry scored 22 points and Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis added 16 apiece for Golden State, while Kevin Durant paced the Suns with 31.
In Denver, Nikola Jokic scored 37 points and Jamal Murray added 34 for the Nuggets, who withstood Detroit’s fourth-quarter surge for a 134-121 victory over the Pistons.
In Portland, Shaedon Sharpe scored 23 points to lead six Trail Blazers players to score in double figures in a 126-122 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
