Jalen Brunson, Knicks beat red-hot Magic

NBA

by Stephen Bondy

Jalen Brunson returned and drove a defensive steamroller against a rushing MSG team.

Brunson, who missed last year's tournament with a horrific knee contusion, dropped 26 points in the Knicks' 98-74 victory Friday night, holding the Magic to the lowest total of any NBA team this season.

This was the fewest points allowed by the Knicks since 2012.

“We played well from start to finish,” Tom Thibodeau said.

The Knicks (37-26), who will soon have OG Anunoby back from elbow surgery, regained fourth place in the East from the Magic (37-27), whose winning streak ended at five.

Branson's influence was immediate.

He scored 10 points in the first quarter as the Knicks held a 21-9 advantage within seven minutes.

The lead reached 14 points at halftime, but expanded to 26 points at the end of the third quarter.

The Magic are 3-0 against the Knicks this season, but never once led.

They shot just 34 percent overall and 23 percent from beyond the arc.

“Today we were really aggressive, on the ball, off the ball, rotating. We really hit it off today,” Josh Hart said. “We're very active inside our shells. That allowed us to get out and run a little bit.”

The Knicks' heroes besides Brunson were clearly Precious Achiuwa (15 points, 14 rebounds in 39 minutes) and Hart (19 points, seven rebounds, four assists in 42 minutes).

Miles McBride added 14 points off the bench in the wire-to-wire win.

Hart's energy in the first half, accompanied by enthusiastic shouts and celebrations, pushed the Knicks forward for long stretches.

His putback dunk with about three minutes left in the fourth sent the crowd into a frenzy and capped off his latest “All Heart” performance.

“I was so happy to finally be able to exercise once again,” Branson said.

Brunson missed the previous game with a knee contusion, an injury that caused panic among Knicks fans because of how bad it looked. He acknowledged that Mr Branson also has concerns.

“I thought of a thousand different situations of what could have happened, and I'm so glad it didn't,” he said.

He also missed all but 47 seconds of Sunday's win at Cleveland because of a bruise.

So basically Brunson took five days for the bruise to heal, and the rest looked good for the 27-year-old.

He made 11 of 19 in just 29 minutes and had a game-high four treys. His night again ended with an “MVP” chant at MSG.

Without their best perimeter defender in Jalen Suggs (thigh contusion), the Magic had no answer.

“I have nothing but respect for him because he's doing everything he can to get back,” Thibodeau said. “Training twice a day. He's on the floor. He pushes himself in practice. He gets there early and stays late. He goes through practice. He comes back at night and does treatment. receive.

“It worked again. Then he gets ready. He doesn't take any time off, that's why he can do what he has to do.”

The Magic entered the night as one of only two teams in the East (along with the Celtics) to have never lost to the Knicks this season.

Orlando and New York also enter the night as the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the East, respectively, and could be potential playoff opponents.

“It's going to be interesting to see how everything goes,” said Magic All-Star Paolo Banchero, who scored 23 points Friday. “It's a very close race from fourth to eighth, so I don't know how I'll shake out the last position.” [19] game. “But there's definitely a chance we could play them. It would be great to play in a playoff series here.”

Banchero destroyed the Knicks in their last game, dropping 36 points on Valentine's Day in Orlando, then telling the fans who rushed to him to “go home.”

On Friday, Banchero told the Post that silencing Knicks fans was key to countering the disrespect felt at his arena.

“When they're talking in their own arena, it feels a little different,” Banchero said. “When they come to Orlando, I sometimes have to give them a ride home.”

But he didn't have high hopes for a win against a team with a depleted roster — “They've been beaten a lot more than we've played” — and missed shots Friday. It was a reminder of how much Orlando's offensive power can drop at times.

“We know what's at stake,” Hart said of the close playoff race. “I can't say it gave us more results because we're always tied to the scouting report. But the level of focus was there.”