Knicks' Jalen Brunson Finds His Groove In Win Over Bulls

So far this season, Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson hasn't looked like the MVP-caliber player fans saw in the NBA Finals this past summer. 

But one week after helping New York erase a 19-point deficit in Chicago, Brunson seemingly officially found his groove Wednesday night against the Bulls. However, instead of showing up as basketball's best closer as he so often does, he hit the ground running early, racking up 22 points in 12-straight first-frame minutes and outscoring the entire Bulls roster by one. 

He played just 17 more minutes across the remaining three quarters of the game but continued to find his way to the basket, increasing his total to a season-best 33 points. No other player tallied more than 18 (Karl-Anthony Towns). He hit five of his 10 three-point attempts, eight of his nine foul shots, and 10 of his 17 from the field.

"It's part of the game," he said of his effort. "Obviously, when you have it going, it feels good. Just trying to play off that and use your gravity to make plays."

Odds are, the reigning NBA Finals MVP would have kept scoring had he been given more time on the floor. At the rate he was going, he may have hit 80 points.

"Our analytics guys [chart] how guys play in two-minute increments," head coach Mike Brown explained after the game. "Some guys, after six minutes, their three-point field-goal percentage drops. They also can track their movement — how quickly they're still moving out on the floor, if that slows down or not. Jalen's just seems to go up every two minutes."

But Brown said his desire to protect Brunson's health significantly outweighs his curiosity regarding just how much Brunson could produce if he were left unrestrained. In fact, he said, keeping Brunson in the game just for the sake of it never even crossed his mind.

"He's about as durable as anybody I've been around. He's mentally tough, physically tough, and he can push himself to go," Brown said. "... But at the end of the day, it's going to impact him, in my opinion, come playoff time, so I have to be conscious of not going to the well too much, especially at this point in the season."

When asked if he would ever request to keep playing in a game like tonight, Brunson was hesitant.

"Possibly, but it has to be the right moment, right time," he said. "I don't want to say no because you never know when you're in this situation, but I just want to respect the game as much as possible."