Rick Brunson stood on the court during a timeout, hands in his pockets, eyes locked on the tunnel leading from the home team locker room to Madison Square Garden’s hardwood.
He was waiting. Watching. Searching.
Moments earlier, his son — Knicks captain and soon-to-be two-time All-Star Jalen Brunson — had driven into the paint during the third quarter of Sunday’s matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, absorbed contact, and floated a left-handed shot. But the aftermath was concerning. Brunson grimaced, hunched over, and clutched his right shoulder.
Taking a knee briefly before signaling to the bench, Brunson walked straight to the locker room, leaving the court and silencing a sold-out MSG crowd.
Rick Brunson followed. The elder Brunson, also an assistant coach for the Knicks, left the bench to check on his son. He soon returned to his post but made another trip to the locker room shortly after.
And then, Rick re-emerged from the tunnel he’d been fixated on. This time, he wasn’t alone. Jalen Brunson, the player carrying the weight of New York’s championship aspirations on his shoulders, jogged out behind him.
“I got hit, went to the locker room, did some shoulder tests, strength tests, and came back out,” said Brunson.
The MSG faithful erupted, rising to their feet in a deafening standing ovation. MVP chants echoed as Brunson walked straight to the scorer’s table, checked himself back into the game, and got back to business: getting buckets.
“I think it’s inspiring,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game. “A great leader unites and inspires. And it could be a lot of different ways. I’m a big believer not so much in what guys say but what they do.”
And the fans had every reason to chant.
Brunson scorched the Bucks with 23 points in the first quarter alone. He added four more in the second and five to start the third before his brief exit. Then he returned to finish with 44 points on 16-of-26 shooting, including 5-of-10 from downtown, in a dominant 140-106 blowout victory over Milwaukee in Sunday’s matinee matchup.
“He just wants to win. That’s the most important thing,” said Thibodeau. “If Jalen scores two points and we win, he’s as happy as if he scores 44 and we win. That’s the beauty of his game. He’ll adjust to whatever is needed.”
Brunson’s performance was a reversal of what happened in a Nov. 8 matchup between the Knicks and Bucks — also a blowout in favor of New York. On that night, it was Karl-Anthony Towns who erupted for 13 in the first quarter and another 14 in the second, finishing with 32 points while Brunson shot just 6-of-14 from the field for 15 points.
“[It felt like] Towns had 50 the last time,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said postgame on Sunday. “He was more aggressive early. I know in Game 1, it was Towns that got off right away. So they just flipped scripts. [Jalen is] tough, though. He’s a tough guy to guard.”
The Knicks snapped a troubling skid with the win, securing a much-needed confidence boost against a Bucks team also searching for consistency.
New York’s four losses in its previous five games included an embarrassing home defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which dropped the Knicks to 1-7 against top-tier NBA title contenders (Boston, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Houston, Denver, and Dallas). By contrast, they’re 11-7 against Play-In-level teams and 12-1 against lottery-bound squads.
This inconsistency underscores the challenge ahead. The Knicks are entering a brutal stretch: 24 of their next 27 games are against teams vying for a playoff or Play-In spot, including seven matchups against true title contenders.
“There’s just a sense of urgency to have energy and just be prepared, be locked in on the game,” said Brunson. “We were just out there doing whatever it took. It was important for us to go out there and play as best we can. The defense, the way we saw it I was able tog et in the paint and make plays. It could be different the next day, but the same mindset every time we go out, it has to be like that.”
But against Milwaukee, the Knicks found their form — and some much-needed help from the bench.
Miles McBride, listed as questionable with a strained hamstring, played on Sunday. Yet it was Cameron Payne who made the most noise off the bench, torching Milwaukee for 18 points in just 14 minutes.
Karl-Anthony Towns delivered a monster game with 30 points, 18 rebounds, and four assists, while OG Anunoby and Josh Hart chipped in 11 points apiece.
Defensively, the Knicks stifled two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, holding him to 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting — well below his season average. The Bucks as a team struggled from deep, shooting just 29.4% (10-of-34) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Knicks capitalized, sinking 18 threes on 41 attempts, largely due to the gravity Brunson created on a hot scoring night.
“It just opens things up,” said Hart. “Obviously he’s a great player and he demands attention, but when he gets it going like that, sometimes they start to fire and blitz him and we’re playing four on three, and we’re able to get open shots and play to our strengths.”
The game turned in the second quarter. The Knicks outscored the Bucks 39-29, then maintained their barrage when Brunson returned from his shoulder scare. Head coach Tom Thibodeau pulled his star guard with just under six minutes left in the fourth, Towns shortly after, and emptied the bench with over three minutes remaining.
We played with a sense of urgency, which is how we should always play. We executed at a high level. We got stops. We got some easy buckets. And obviously JB was knocking down shots. I was just trying to find the hot hand.
The decisive victory couldn’t have come at a better time for a team preparing for the second leg of a back-to-back against the feisty Detroit Pistons on Monday.
The early tip off and blowout win should pay dividends as the Knicks navigate this grueling stretch of their schedule.
For now, the spotlight shines on Brunson — the heart and soul of this team — and his ability to lead New York through the gauntlet ahead.
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