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CHICAGO — Jalen Brunson had been struggling. His 3-ball was misfiring. His runners were short. In his own words, “I was putting a lot of unnecessary commentary in my head.”
So Brunson responded like he always does — he landed in the next city, went to the gym, put up shots. As the Brunson slogan goes, “The Magic is in the Work.”
Then he put it together Wednesday, dropped 38 points and buried the Bulls with fourth-quarter heroics for a 133-127 victory.
“I was happy to be able to kind of finally get over that hump,” Brunson said. “I feel like I was putting a lot of unnecessary commentary in my head. But seeing the ball go in the way it did, it put me out of my mental state and put me in a good flow state.”
In the four games before Wednesday, Brunson hit four 3-pointers on 20 attempts. On Wednesday, he hit six treys on 10 attempts. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. He crossed over a Bulls defender, sent him flying out of the frame and buried a trey that had the crowd in awe.
It was vintage Brunson, who always seems to play better in Chicago — the area he shined as a high school star over a decade ago. Coach Mike Brown wasn’t surprised.
“I wasn’t worried about that,” Brown said. “He just seems like he always finds a way. And tonight we needed every single one of those. It definitely wasn’t a concern of mine.”
Brunson needed help, too.
With Mikal Bridges ineffective and benched, the rest of the guards took over. Brunson, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek combined for 52 points just in the second half.
Clarkson, who collected a DNP on Tuesday against the Pistons, caught fire with 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter — shooting 7-for-11 overall. Shamet finished with 14 points and five assists in 32 minutes. Kolek had nine points and nine assists. The Knicks (2-3) overcame a 19-point third-quarter deficit to win their second in two nights.
Still, they almost blew it. With 25 seconds left and a 3-point lead, Karl-Anthony Towns missed a layup under the hoop. He was fouled, but there was no whistle. Chicago’s Norman Powell then missed a potential tying trey, and Brunson closed the win by hitting one of his two free throws.
The Knicks were operating on a back-to-back with an excuse to be tired. They had a late tipoff Tuesday in MSG, won a hard-fought game against the Pistons, then didn’t land in Chicago until about 2:30 a.m. — less than 17 hours before tipoff against the Bulls.
“It was just a late game [Tuesday night],” Brown said. “I acknowledged that to our guys. It’s not an excuse. It’s the life of the NBA. So we have to find a way in situations like this, and our guys found a way. But you could tell we looked really, really sluggish.”
Despite the late arrival, Brunson got to the gym early, hit big shots late, and the Knicks recovered.
“His will is unbelievable. His determination, man, it’s second to none,” Brown said. “You look at this guy and he’s not 6-7, he’s not athletic, he’s not quick. I mean, you can go down the line in natural physical tools that a lot of guys have, but his determination, his spirit, his competitive spirit, his will, his toughness, especially his mental toughness, but his physical toughness, too, added with his skill set, it makes him an unbelievable basketball player. An MVP-caliber basketball player. I hope he gets recognition for that this year because his will is off the charts.”
