Brunson hits 41 as Knicks clip Wizards
EW YORK: Jalen Brunson must make opponents miserable.
The New York Knicks point guard doesn’t beat them with size or speed. He just finds a way to beat them.
Brunson had 41 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, leading the Knicks to a 113-109 victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday (Friday in Manila).
Brunson scored 18 of the Knicks’ 21 points during a lengthy stretch of the fourth quarter, helping them push a one-point lead to 105-97 with 1:26 remaining. Time and again it would appear the Wizards had blocked his lane to the basket, and Brunson would spin away from trouble to get a shot up or draw a foul.
“It is frustrating and to his credit he’s a hard one to guard,” Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. “Very shifty.”
Teammate Donte DiVincenzo has been watching it since he and Brunson were teammates at Villanova.
“That’s what great players do to teams, if they get you frustrated, they get you upset,” DiVincenzo said. “You do everything you can defensively and they still make a tough shot. But I think Jalen, what makes him special is he makes the right play every time.”
Brunson finished 14 for 27 from the field and scored at least 30 for the second straight night after missing two games because of a bruised left calf. He had 20 in the fourth quarter, though said he doesn’t try to play differently than during the first three periods.
“You’re at the end of the game, you’re trying to win, so it’s a little different,” Brunson said. “But I mean, the approach stays the same. I think I had the same attacking mindset.”
Julius Randle added 21 points for the Knicks, while DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby each had 19. The Knicks improved to 8-2 since Anunoby joined the lineup Jan. 1 after being acquired from Toronto.
The Knicks host the Raptors in the first meeting between the teams since the trade Saturday when RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley return to Madison Square Garden.
Jordan Poole scored 24 points for the Wizards, while Marvin Bagley III had 20 points and 11 rebounds in his first start for the Wizards. Deni Avdija and Kyle Kuzma each scored 15 points.
With center Daniel Gafford out with a concussion, Bagley moved right into the lineup in his first appearance for the Wizards since last week’s trade in which Washington also acquired Isaiah Livers and a couple future second-round picks for Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala.
Thunder 134, Jazz 129
In Salt Lake City, Shai GilgeousAlexander scored 31 points, Jalen
Williams had 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped the Utah Jazz’s six-game winning streak.
Williams, who shot 11 of 14, made four 3-pointers and has scored at least 2U points in three consecutive games. Cason Wallace scored a season-high 16 points and Josh Giddey had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who had 19 fast-break points.
Collin Sexton scored 31 and Lauri Markkanen added 26 for the Jazz, who had their nine-game home winning streak stopped. It came a day after the NBA postponed Utah’s game scheduled for Wednesday against Golden State because of the death of Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevi in Salt Lake City early that morning.
Sexton made three free throws and a dunk to get Utah within 130-126 before Wallace made his season-best fourth 3-pointer for the Thunder.
Jordan Clarkson answered with a 3-pointer for Utah, but Chet Holmgren blocked Walker Kessler’s dunk attempt. On the ensuing out of bounds play, the Jazz couldn’t convert on two attempts and Holmgren closed the win with a free throw.
The Thunder made their first seven shots in the fourth quarter, and with Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench, Williams’ 3-pointer capped a 6-0 run and Oklahoma City led 113-102 with 8:49 to play.
The Jazz caught the Thunder and tied the game twice in the third quarter, but Utah never took the lead.
Bulls 116, Raptors 110
In Toronto, Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points against his former team.
Coby White added 23 points to help the Bulls snap a four-game losing streak in Toronto. Patrick Williams scored 12 points, and Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu each had 10. Chicago outscored Toronto 7450 on points in the paint.
“I knew I had a little bit of a size advantage and I was trying to take advantage of it,” said Vucevic, who connected on 12 of 17 attempts from inside the 3-point line and had seven assists.
Bulls guard Zach LaVine scored eight points, connecting on three of seven shot attempts, in 24 minutes.
Raptors forward Scottie Barnes had 31 points, one shy of his career best. RJ Barrett added 17 points but Toronto fell to 2-6 on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Raptors shot a season-worst 4 for 32 from long range Monday in a loss to Boston, then made a seasonhigh 20 on Wednesday in a win over Miami. Toronto went cold again Thursday, missing nine straight from distance to begin the game.
Toronto finished 10 for 38 on 3-pointers.
Bruce Brown scored 1U points in his Raptors debut, a day after being part of the trade that sent two-time All-Star Pascal Siakam to Indiana.