It’s a simple formula, a winning formula:
When the Knicks need a victory, they turn to Jalen Brunson.
The point guard did it again Sunday night, dropping a season-high 47 points to topple the pesky Heat 132-125.
It also represented Brunson’s career high at MSG, although he’s exceeded the total on the road — including a 61-point performance in San Antonio.
Brunson shot 15-for-25 and added a robust eight assists to his stat stuffing performance, icing the successful evening on the foul line amid “MVP” chants from the Garden crowd.
The only problem — if you could call it that — is Mike Brown wants to keep Brunson’s minutes down, especially after they were elevated during the NBA Cup.
But Brunson is so important, so dominant this season, it’s hard to keep him on the bench.
So coach Mike Brown played Brunson more than he hoped — 38 minutes, four more than the ideal max — and the coach was rewarded by eight points from the point guard in the final five minutes.
The Knicks (20-8) were coming off two disappointing outings, including a defeat Friday at MSG.
But Sunday was more like it.
Thanks to Brunson and a third-quarter surge from OG Anunoby.
The Knicks trailed for most of the first half and by as many as 10 in the second quarter.
Anunoby was scoreless in the first half — continuing his struggles from a miserable performance two nights prior against the Sixers — but he came alive after the break.
During a 2 ¹/₂-minute stretch early in the third quarter, Anunoby picked up a block, a dunk, another block, a midrange jumper and a 3-pointer.
The Knicks went up by nine.
Anunoby went from zero points and zero blocks at halftime to 12 points and three blocks heading into the final period.
And Brunson took them home, picking up some slack for the other All-Star.
Karl-Anthony Towns managed just two points in 29 minutes, representing just the second time in his career — and the first since 2017 — that he scored fewer than six in a game.
Kel’el Ware, the impressive second-year center, led the Heat (15-14) with 28 points and 19 rebounds.
The Knicks, meanwhile, are embarking on a challenging part of their schedule.
Following Sunday’s win, Brown’s teams starts a stretch of nine of 13 on the road.
By Jan. 16 — when the Knicks land in New York following a four-game trip to the Western Conference — they’ll have the same amount of road games as home ones, 20 apiece, negating what started this season as an MSG-centric schedule.
On top of that, eight of their next nine opponents — counting Sunday against the Heat — currently own records of .500 or better, a stretch that finishes with arguably the toughest game yet:
Jan. 5 at Detroit.
It’s also worth noting the Knicks are 14-2 record at home and 5-6 away.
Heading into a couple potentially treacherous weeks, Brown said it’s imperative for the Knicks to recapture their form of pre-NBA Cup.
Sunday was a good start.
And it’s always good to have Brunson.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
