It was an evening of almosts for Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks.
Brunson fell one level shy of the group’s single-game scoring file Friday, ending a loss to the San Antonio Spurs with 61 factors. Longtime Knicks ahead Carmelo Anthony went for 62 factors in January 2014.
After all, Anthony’s historic efficiency, which got here throughout a 125-96 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats, was a better trigger for celebration than Brunson’s landmark, even when 61 factors means a brand new profession excessive for the purpose guard.
The Knicks fought again from down as many as 21 factors Friday however fell in time beyond regulation 130-126, a disappointing defeat for a group combating for Jap Convention playoff positioning. They usually almost gained it on the identical play that Brunson may have eclipsed Anthony’s file.
With solely 5 seconds to go in time beyond regulation and New York down two factors, a Brunson step-back 3-pointer clanked off the again of the rim.
Knicks massive man Valuable Achiuwa grabbed the offensive rebound and jumped once more, seemingly as if he was about to shoot. However as a substitute, Achiuwa handed the ball again out to the perimeter. The errant throw grazed off the fingertips of an outstretched Donte DiVincenzo and deflected out of bounds. The Spurs then hit two free throws to ice the sport.
After all, the Knicks wouldn’t have been able to win it if it weren’t for Brunson.
After a sizzling however not out-of-the-ordinary first half, Brunson revved a comeback within the third quarter. The Spurs led the Knicks by 17 at halftime. Brunson went for twenty-four within the interval on 10 of 13 taking pictures. By the tip of it, San Antonio’s lead had dwindled to only two.
The person statistics are jarring.
Thirty-eight of Brunson’s factors got here simply within the second half. He paired his 61 factors with 4 rebounds and 6 assists. He did it on 25 of 47 taking pictures and 5 of 13 3-point accuracy. He sank all six of his free throws. Thirty of his factors got here within the paint.
He’s the primary Knicks participant ever to make 25 photographs in a sport and in addition the primary to take 47. No NBA participant has chucked so many field-goal makes an attempt since Kobe Bryant famously put up 50 throughout his remaining sport in 2016. Brunson’s scoring efficiency now ranks because the second-best within the group’s historical past — one level behind Anthony’s and one forward of Corridor of Famer Bernard King’s 60-point outburst in December 1984.
Sixty-one is Brunson’s private finest, surpassing his earlier profession excessive of fifty factors, which he set earlier this season throughout a win on the Phoenix Suns. However he had extra assistance on that evening.
On Friday, the Knicks had been dominant with Brunson and a multitude with out him. They outscored San Antonio by 22 factors in the course of the 43 minutes that their All-Star level guard was on the courtroom. In the course of the 10 minutes he rested, the Spurs crushed the Knicks by 26. That’s a 48-point swing in a single sport — and it made the distinction within the remaining rating.
It didn’t assist that the Knicks had been gazing a mammoth in black and silver.
Rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama churned out a profession evening as effectively, going for 40 factors (his most ever), 20 rebounds and 7 assists. He shot 13 of twenty-two from the sphere and 4 of 9 from deep.
Historical past didn’t finish there. DiVincenzo, Brunson’s solely teammate who was hitting soar photographs Friday, sank six 3-pointers, giving him 245 on the season, formally breaking Evan Fournier’s franchise file of 241, which Fournier set in 2021-22. DiVincenzo broke the Knicks’ single-game file for 3-point makes earlier this week, when he hit 11 in opposition to the Detroit Pistons. Fournier and J.R. Smith, who every drained 10 in a sport, had been the earlier file holders.
Brunson turns into the seventh participant within the league to put up a 60-point efficiency this season, becoming a member of the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Cities, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker and the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry.
The loss brings the Knicks to 44-29 and drops them to fourth within the Jap Convention, half a sport again of the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose Friday evening victory vaulted them into third place.
Required studying
(Photograph: Scott Wachter / USA At the moment)