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Jalen Brunson ends his shooting slump with 38 points as the Knicks come back from 19 down in Chicago: ‘Unnecessary commentary in my head’
Brunson, who came in shooting 36.6% and 4-of-20 from three, scored 38 with six threes as the Knicks erased a 19-point deficit to beat the Bulls 133-127. He pointed to PJ Rose after the big three, remembered Stacey King, and Tyler Kolek kept his zero-turnover run going.
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Jalen Brunson came into Wednesday night shooting 36.6% from the field and 4-of-20 from three. He left Chicago with 38 points, six threes and a 133-127 comeback win for the New York Knicks, who trailed the Chicago Bulls by 19 in the third quarter.
Brunson shot 13-of-25, went 6-of-10 from three and 6-of-8 at the line, with seven assists in 35 minutes. His six threes were two more than he had made in his first four games combined. It was the second night of a back-to-back, and it gave the Knicks two straight wins after an 0-3 start.
“I was happy to be able to kind of finally get over that hump,” Brunson said after the game. “I feel like I was putting a lot of unnecessary commentary in my head.”
From 19 down
The Bulls led 87-68 with 4:57 left in the third quarter. New York outscored them 65-40 the rest of the way and won the fourth quarter 43-31. Brunson scored 14 of his 38 in the fourth.
His step-back jumper with 6:51 left tied the game at 109. He followed with a 26-foot three, a turnaround in the lane and then the shot of the night: with the clock winding down, he crossed over Norman Powell, who lost his footing, and hit a 25-foot three with 3:17 left to put New York up 127-116.
The crossover on Powell, posted by the Knicks on X.
Brunson pointed toward the stands after the shot. In his on-court interview, he said it was meant for PJ Rose, Derrick Rose’s son. “I was pointing at PJ. Me and PJ made a little eye contact,” Brunson said. “Obviously, you guys know what he means to me, him and his family.” Brunson went straight to Rose after the final buzzer.
On the comeback, he said: “It’s all about how you respond. I like the way we competed.” He added that the Knicks “just got to make sure we’re being aggressive and nothing really passive.”
Asked whether the Knicks are comfortable in that spot after last season’s title run, he said: “I guess you could say we’re comfortable, but obviously a position we do not want to be in.”
Brunson’s on-court interview, posted by MrBuckBuckNBA on X.
A word for Stacey King
Before he left the floor, Brunson asked for a moment to remember Stacey King, the three-time Bulls champion and longtime Bulls TV analyst who died in June at 59. Brunson grew up in the Chicago suburbs and played high school basketball at Stevenson.
“Real quick, just because we’re here, just want to say RIP to Stacey King,” Brunson said. “A person who I knew when I was in high school out here. He supported our team a lot. His kids went to Stevenson. Just to see him not here today, it’s a little sad. And so I just wanted to say my thoughts and prayers with him and his family.”
A franchise record
The Knicks said it was Brunson’s 82nd game as a Knick with at least 30 points and five assists, the most in franchise history. Norman Powell scored 30 for Chicago on 10-of-15 shooting.
The franchise mark, posted by the Knicks on X.
Kolek: 21 assists, no turnovers
Brunson had help from the bench. Tyler Kolek, filling in while Jose Alvarado is out with a sprained left ankle, had nine points on 3-of-4 shooting, all threes, with nine assists, no turnovers and a plus-13 in 18 minutes. Jordan Clarkson scored 18 on 7-of-11 shooting and Landry Shamet added 14 with four threes. The three reserves combined for 41 points and 15 assists.
Kolek has 21 assists and zero turnovers in 44 minutes across his three games this season.
Coach Mike Brown said the Brunson-Kolek backcourt came from an idea by assistant coach Rick Brunson, Jalen’s father. “One of the things Rick Brunson suggested was throwing Kolek in the game with Jalen, just to give them a different look and get Jalen off the ball and put Tyler on the floor,” Brown said. “And the combination we had out there, we kept playing well. It was harder to go back to what we started with.”
That meant less time for Mikal Bridges, who scored three points in 13 minutes and played only about three minutes in the second half. Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points, 13 rebounds and five assists after hurting his left hand in a first-quarter fall; he left for the locker room briefly and returned with his hand and wrist taped.
The Knicks, now 2-3, visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, which is 1:30 a.m. Saturday in Cairo.
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