It doesn’t happen often, but a wayward shooting Jalen Brunson was not on the floor for a sizable chunk of the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ comeback victory over the Spurs on Christmas.
The All-Star point guard was subbed out with 7:16 remaining with the Knicks trailing by eight points, and he didn’t check back in for Miles McBride until there was 2:17 left on the clock.
The Knicks outscored San Antonio, 18-9, with Brunson on the bench to take a one-point lead before closing out their fifth straight win.
He finished with 20 points but shot just 7-for-23 from the floor.
“It was just reading the game,” Tom Thibodeau explained afterward. “He was actually at the scorer’s table, but the game kept going. We could have used a timeout, and actually we needed a timeout to advance the ball.
“But the game was going in a positive way. So we were waiting for the dead ball. It was going to be a quick rest for him just to give him a minute or two and then use a timeout to sandwich that to get the rest he needed. And he’s usually good with that. He’ll tell me, ‘I’m ready.’ And when he’s ready, I’m ready.”
Mikal Bridges led the Knicks with 41 points, and Josh Hart said afterward that recent games have shown that “we don’t need JB to go out there and score 30 for us to win.”
“For him, he doesn’t care,” Hart added. “His main agenda is to win and he’s happy with that.”
After Friday’s game in Orlando, the Knicks will close out 2024 with consecutive games Saturday and Monday in Washington against the league-worst Wizards.
That twinbill and a home game against the Jazz to start the new year will conclude a stretch of five out of seven against lottery-bound teams.
The Knicks also posted victories before Christmas against the Jazz and the Pelicans.
“They’re NBA teams, the best of the best. I mean, any night, that’s what makes NBA basketball so special,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “These are the best of the best basketball players in the world. Any night you could lose. These teams all play with pride. … We had some dogfights, and we had to be unified and utilize the lessons we learned all season, in training camp.”
“We find ourselves crossing the finish line, but never take any team in the NBA for granted.”
Mitchell Robinson (out, ankle) is the only player on the injury report for the Knicks. Paolo Banchero (oblique), Franz Wagner (oblique), Moe Wagner (knee) and Gary Harris (hamstring) are out for the Magic.