On a night Giannis Antetokounmpo was dominant again, Jalen Brunson was the more unstoppable superstar on the floor
The Knicks saw a 13-point fourth-quarter lead dwindle down to just two points and made just one of their previous 11 shots.
But there was Brunson, drawing a foul on Giannis Antetokounmpo on a 3-pointer.
He drilled all three free throws to give the Knicks a five-point lead and some breathing room.
A few possessions later, there he was again, drawing a foul on Myles Turner, nailing a floater and the subsequent free throw to complete the three-point play and extend the Knicks’ lead to seven points.
He let out a visceral scream, and the Madison Square Garden crowd responded with their nightly MVP chant for him.
It was enough, as the Knicks beat the Bucks 118-109 on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
The switch in mindset —which Brunson makes when he’s decided it’s no longer time to look to get his teammates going, but rather time to take over the game himself — is always noticeable.
It, mostly without fail, comes when the Knicks need it most.
It came earlier than that crunch-time sequence as well.
There he was, scoring eight straight Knicks points and 13 of 16 of their points to close the third quarter.
On this Black Friday, Brunson — who took less money than he had to on his current Knicks contract — proved again that he is the best bargain in the league.
In what was a do-or-die situation, the Knicks won Group C in the NBA Cup and advanced to the quarterfinals.
They dumped the Bucks — who won the Cup last year — out of the tournament in the process.
And found a bit of revenge as well, as they unraveled in a loss to the Bucks in Milwaukee exactly one month ago.
Brunson finished with 37 points on 12-for-21 shooting from the field and 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point range.
He got hardly any help at all from a passive Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored just nine points on rough 2-for-8 shooting from the field.
Two of Towns’ worst games this year have come against the Bucks.
Josh Hart, starting his third straight game after coming off the bench the first 14 games he appeared in this year, continues to take advantage of the larger workloads coach Mike Brown has been giving him.
He finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists in 40 minutes, but his impact went beyond the box score.
He somehow won a jump ball over Antetokounmpo to give the Knicks possession before Brunson’s decisive three-point play in the fourth quarter.
Then on the other end, he stood up Antetokounmpo defensively, forcing him to pass, eventually resulting in a Kyle Kuzma miss.
Antetokounmpo recorded 30 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists after missing the previous four games with a thigh injury.
But, unlike the first matchup of these two superstars earlier this year, it was Brunson who made the difference.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
