Late Brunson Barrage Allows Knicks to Withstand Wizards
You're a wizard against the Wizards, Jalen.
Though the New York Knicks let the lowly Washington Wizards get far too close for comfort, familiar scoring antics from Jalen Brunson allowed them to curse D.C. to the tune of a 113-109 victory on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
A Brunson barrage to the tune of 41 points allowed New York (25-17) to withstand a wacky Washington challenge en route to completing a sweep of a back-to-back set that began on Wednesday over Houston. While Brunson has undoubtedly risen to the occasion against almost any opponent, the Wizards have been recurring victims of his mastery: over the three-game sweep of Washington, Brunson put up 106 points and 23 assists to help New York finish off its first perfect mark against the nation's capital since 2020-21.
Brad Penner, USA TODAY SPORTS
But unlike the first two meetings (combined 37-point margin of victory), the Knicks let the Wizards linger for far too long, rendering each and every one of Brunson's tallies necessary.
As expected, the Knicks took an early lead on the downtrodden Wizards, who were reeling from an embarrassing home loss to equally woebegone Detroit. Julius Randle put up 10 points over the first eight minutes to build a 20-10 lead but a 12-2 to cap the period kept things close from there on out.
With starters fatiguing and its bench shorthanded thanks to Josh Hart's knee injury, nearly every New York rally failed to incapacitate the reeling Wizards, who nearly took a slim lead into the halftime break before Brunson put one in with 31 seconds left. OG Anunoby briefly shouldered the scoring load for the Knicks in the third with 13 on a perfect 5-of-5 from the field (including 3-of-3 on three-pointers) but the Wizards matched the Knicks' 27 points thanks in part to six points and rebounds each for Marvin Bagley, who was making his DC debut after a Sunday trade with Detroit (starting center Daniel Gafford missed Thursday's game with a concussion).
Continued Washington pressure kept the gap narrow, but Brunson's crescendo finally allowed the Knicks to pull away: the point guard put up 21 points in the final period, partly punctuating it with three successful free throws that put the Knicks up by seven with just under three minutes remaining. A Randle three-pointer, off an assist from Brunson, made it a nine-point advantage in the final minute, which proved to create just enough breathing room for the Knicks to survive a free throw barrage to close things out.
In addition to his baskets, Brunson also dished out three assists in the final period, giving him a role on 29 of the Knicks' 40 points in the closer. When all was said and done, Brunson earned his fourth 40-point game of the season, tying his mark from all of last year.
Despite a respectable effort, Washington (7-33) has now dropped six of seven to start the new calendar year. Jordan Poole wound up leading the Wizards with 24 points while Bagley had a double-double in his debut with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
A high-profile reunion awaits the Knicks on Saturday night, as the Knicks host former homegrown franchise faces RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley when the Toronto Raptors come to visit (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
