San Atonement: Brunson, Knicks Stave Off Spurs For 3rd Straight Win
The San Antonio Spurs haven't had many recurring antagonists during their 50-year run, especially over the past 24 years.
It's certainly not why the New York Knicks brought in Jalen Brunson, but he fulfilled that unique purpose on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
In his second game back from a three-contest absence due to a Christmas Day hip injury, Brunson set a personal best in a Knicks uniform and his career as a whole with 38 points that paced a 117-114 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. With the win, the Knicks (21-18) are on another three-game winning streak and also avenged a 122-115 loss sustained last Thursday at AT&T Center. Brunson's efforts were assisted by another Julius Randle double-double, his fifth in a row and ninth in the past 10 games yielding 25 points and 13 rebounds (in addition to four blocks).
Brunson is no stranger to the Spurs thanks to his days with the Dallas Mavericks. Entering this season, Brunson's 14.9 points averaged over 13 games against Gregg Popovich's group was his best output against a Western Conference opponent. He was unavailable for part one of the Knicks' yearly couple with San Antonio last Thursday due to a hip injury sustained in the Christmas loss to Philadelphia.
The point guard's offensive prowess allowed the Knicks to hold a mostly stable lead against the pesky Spurs: the affair seemed destined to become a one-sided Knicks victory after they led by as much as 13 in the first quarter but the Spurs, missing their second-leading scorer Devin Vassell, kept pace primarily thanks to the efforts of Keldon Johnson. He had some help with the second quarter as the Spurs ate away at the Knicks' early lead thanks to bench efforts from Josh Richards and Stanley Johnson, who united for eight each.
But Brunson's steady pace, keeping things even at 19 points apiece over each half, paced the Knicks' victory. He shot 8-of-13 from the field in the second half and had a direct role on all but one of the Knicks' final 15 points over the last 8:09 of gameplay, putting nine in himself and assisting on a Jericho Sims alley-oop and a Quentin Grimes three. A step-back jumper gave the Knicks the necessary points to earn a permanent lead and while the defense was unable to hold an opponent under 90 for the third straight game, they came up big by forcing a five-second violation on a Spurs inbound attempt with just over five ticks remaining.
San Antonio (12-26) has not won since the Knicks' aforementioned visit, dropping its third in a row. Johnson led the team with 26 points while Richardson had 20 off the bench. The loss denied the Spurs their first sweep of the Knicks since 2019-20.
The Knicks briefly hit the road before getting the weekend off, crossing the northern border for a Friday showdown with the Toronto Raptors (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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