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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 with 1:27 left.
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.
“He should be talked about, it’s early, but as a potential MVP,” coach Mike Brown said. “There’s not enough chatter. It’s early, so I’m not throwing a fit. … He gets blitzed often and he makes the right basketball play. He basically did what he was supposed to do and that’s why I don’t talk about it a lot, because that’s what he’s capable of doing, that’s what he’s supposed to be from being of that stature.”
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.
He 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, though he made two critical plays — an offensive rebound and a steal off a jump ball — down the stretch
The win secured Group C in the NBA Cup and advanced the Knicks to the quarterfinals.
They dumped the Bucks — who won the Cup last year — out of the tournament in the process.
“There’s a little added juice to it knowing what’s at stake,” Brunson said of the Cup. “Win and move on and try and win something. We have a lot of guys and coaches who don’t make as much as some of the guys on this team and it’s an added bonus for them as well. You’re not just playing for yourself, you’re playing for this entire team.”
They found a bit of revenge as well, as they unraveled in a loss to the Bucks in Milwaukee exactly one month ago.
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 Brown has been giving him.
He finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 40 minutes, but his impact went even beyond the boxscore.
He spent the bulk of the game guarding Antetokounmpo, who hurt him early.
But Hart handled him down the stretch — up by seven with just over a minute left after Brunson’s and-1, he stood up Antetokounmpo defensively, forcing him to pass, eventually resulting in a Kyle Kuzma miss. That all but sealed the win.
“I knew I was gonna get beat up today,” Hart said. “For me, obviously we don’t have OG [Anunoby], he’s an extremely physical guy and we put him on those matchups. With him out, I knew I had to step up a little bit. [Assistant] Darren Erman talked to me about being more physical on the ball, so that’s something I tried to do the last two, three games. I [need to] continue to do that and set the tone.”
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.
“We’re not playing the best basketball right now, but we’re trending in the right direction,” Brown said. “And he’s the engine behind it.”
