Jalen Brunson became the third New York Knicks player to post at least five straight 35-point games, joining Carmelo Anthony (six in a row) and Bernard King (five), in Thursday night’s 118-109 win over the Boston Celtics.
Brunson, 27, tallied 35 points against the Sacramento Kings on April 4, then 35 points at Chicago on April 5, 43 points at Milwaukee on April 7, 45 at Chicago on Tuesday, and 39 at Boston.
The six-year veteran scored 39 points against the Celtics on 15-of-23 (65.2%) shooting from the field, 6-of-11 (54.5%) from 3-point range, and 3-of-5 (60%) at the free throw line.
Jalen Brunson was 🔥 last night:
✅ 39 PTS
✅ 15-23 FG
✅ 6-11 3PBrunson is the third player in @nyknicks history to record at least five straight 35-point games, joining Carmelo Anthony (six in a row) and Bernard King (five).
Read, share, & subscribe: https://t.co/HRUT3uzddA pic.twitter.com/TnJzYjrfty
— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) April 12, 2024
“We made shots and made the right plays. Obviously, we know they’re the top dog in the East,” Brunson said.
“Whenever you play against them, it’s always a good measuring stick to see where you’re at. We played pretty well, but we know what they’re capable of doing. We just had their number tonight.”
OG Anunoby, who scored 12 points on 5-of-10 (50%) shooting from the floor and two 3-pointers, played in his first game against Boston since getting traded to the Knicks in late December.
“We got stops, got out and scored and JB was getting in the paint and doing his thing,” Anunoby said. “We all do it together.”
New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 61 points against San Antonio Spurs
Last month, Brunson scored a career-high 61 points in New York’s 130-126 overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs, one point shy of matching Carmelo Anthony’s franchise record of 62 points on Jan. 24, 2014. Bernard King is third with his 60-point outing in 1984.
“It’s great, but it’s washed out the window with the loss,” said Brunson, who surpassed his previous career best of 50 points against the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 15. “So, it doesn’t really matter.”
According to the Basketball-Reference database, Brunson joined Michael Jordan (Jan. 16, 1993) as the only players in NBA history to make 25 or more field goals and commit two or fewer turnovers in a game.
Most points in a game for the @NYKnicks:
62 – Carmelo Anthony (2014)
61 – Jalen Brunson (tonight)
60 – Bernard King (1984)#NBA | #NYKnicks pic.twitter.com/4AAyHuwVMp— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) March 30, 2024
Brunson also joined Kobe Bryant (Jan. 22, 2006) as the only NBA players in league history to tally at least 20 2-pointers and five 3-pointers in a single game.
Furthermore, the Knicks (48-32) pulled within a game of the Milwaukee Bucks (49-31) for second, with each team having two games remaining. New York hosts the Brooklyn Nets (32-48) on Friday and the Chicago Bulls (38-42) on Sunday.
The Knicks must win both and the Bucks have to lose their final games at the Oklahoma City Thunder (55-25) and Orlando Magic (46-34). This is because Milwaukee has the head-to-head tiebreaker.
