CHICAGO — Jalen Brunson has done it again.
At this point, 40+ points is just another day at the office during one of the best individual offensive stretches this franchise has ever produced.
The point guard finished with 45 points in Tuesday’s 128-117 win over the Bulls, adding eight assists in another exquisite shooting display.
The win cut the Knicks’ magic number to 1 to clinch a top-6 spot in the East and a playoff appearance.
The Knicks would have done it Tuesday if Miami hadn’t won in Atlanta.
However, they came out of an eventful Tuesday evening in pretty good shape.
The Knicks moved up one spot in the East to third place, jumping over the Magic – who fell to the Rockets.
They’re still one game behind the Bucks, who beat the Celtics but lost Giannis Antetokounmpo to a scary calf injury.
The Knicks (47-32) have won three of their last four games and Brunson lights up every defense.
Tuesday was his 10th 40-point game of the season, which ranks third in team history.
Bernard King lost 13 games by 40 points in 1984-85.
Patrick Ewing had 11 in 1989-90.
Brunson was helped in Chicago by OG Anunoby, who had his best game since returning from elbow tendinopathy.
He scored 24 points in 35 minutes.
Donte DiVincenzo added 21 points.
The Bulls (37-42) are fighting for home court in the play-in tournament and beat the Knicks last week on the same court.
But their defense disappeared on Tuesday – especially when Brunson had the ball.
Chicago’s biggest contribution in the first quarter was the bloopers.
Torrey Craig – streaking on a 3-on-0 breakaway – threw it off the backboard to attempt an alley-oop.
Except that his teammate Andre Drummond also went to get the ball.
They both collided and missed.
Drummond then left in a wheelchair after rolling his left ankle.
Billy Donovan might want to consider that job in Kentucky.
It was a crazy end to the first half.
The Bulls made two 3-pointers in a span of five seconds, capped by Coby White making a steal with 1.6 seconds left.
It would have been a deflating way to enter the locker room, but DiVincenzo nailed a half-court heave to extend New York’s lead to six.
Then the Knicks went up 13-2 in the second half and didn’t look back.
Chicago’s Alex Caruso, one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders, was helpless against Brunson.
And even when the Bulls committed to blitzing and attacking Brunson in the fourth quarter, it didn’t work.
He’s peaking at the right time, with just three games left and every outcome has implications for playoff seeding.
Thibodeau knows the implications of each game but wants his team to ignore them.
“I said this: I think the intensity of the last 10 games of the season, you have to understand that it is different from the first 70,” said the Knicks coach. “There’s almost a playoff intensity to it all, and everyone’s playing for something. And we can’t get lost. And stay focused on the task at hand, which is winning the game. So don’t think, “Oh, this wins a playoff spot.”
“Do the things that are necessary to win the game. You just have to take it one step at a time, and that’s what this team has done extremely well all year long.
New York Post
