Jalen Brunson is an All-Star and scores 40 points to help the Knicks win.
Jalen Brunson makes it a point to keep his feelings and thoughts to himself. But Thursday night, everything that happened was too much for even the most calm stars to handle.
He made his first All-Star team, scored 40 points, and led his New York York to a come-from-behind win over the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden.
Fans at Madison Square Garden chanted “MVP” at Brunson as he was being interviewed on the court after the game.
He had to hold back his tears as he was being interviewed. The Knicks won 109–105, their ninth straight win and 15th win in 2024.
The kid said, “That was cool.” “Everything about it. The evening. How we got the win. Of course, what occurred before the game… you always prepare for certain times, but you don’t know what to do when they come up. So it was unique.”
More than anything else, though, this night focused on Brunson. He is the leader of this team and goes out of his way to make matters about other people almost every other night.
Last year, he almost made the All-Star team, and last week, he almost got named a starter.
This time, though, he was not given a choice. Everything about the game, from Brunson and Randle being selected All-Stars right before it started to how he was praised afterward, was all about him and what he’s become.
He fell to the second round before being picked up by the Dallas Mavericks, even though he had won two national titles at Villanova.
After making it to the Western Division finals with Dallas, he became a free agent in the latter part of 2022 and signed with the Knicks.
Jalen Brunson, who was named the Eastern Conference All-Star previously Thursday, scored 11 out of his 40 points in the last 6:45 for the New York Knicks, who beat the Indiana Pacers 109-105 after falling behind by 15 points. It was their ninth straight win.
For the Knicks, Precious Achiuwa (12 points, 16 rebounds) as well as Isaiah Hartenstein (12 points, 19 rebounds) each had a double-double. Miles McBride scored 16 points off the bench and Donte DiVincenzo scored 20 points.
Set aside The Pacers have lost two in a row and five of their last eight games. Jalen Smith scored 20 points for them.
Aaron Nesmith scored 17 points, Pascal Siakam scored 18, and Tyrese Haliburton scored 15.
Haliburton scored 15 points in back-to-back games to the first play since January 6–8. Andrew Nembhard (10 points) and Obi Toppin (12 points) both scored 10 or more points off the bench.
McBride made a 3-pointer to start a 12-0 run for the Knicks. Brunson scored seven points, including the 3-pointer with 6:45 left that tied the game.
After that, the Pacers went on a 9-2 run, which was capped by Smith’s dunk, which put Indiana ahead 100–99.
It got as much as 15 points in favor of the Pacers in the second quarter. They were ahead 58–51 at the break and 91–85 with 8:25 left in the game.
When there were two minutes left, the Knicks took a timeout because Brunson was taking too long to get up after he hit Nembhard. New York was up for good after Brunson made a layup.
The Pacers missed the following two shots, but DiVincenzo made a shot from 18 feet, Achiuwa blocked DiVincenzo’s missed 3-pointer, and Brunson made two free throws.
The New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers 109–105 on Thursday night, and Brunson scored 40 points.
When asked on the court what the game meant to him, he couldn’t speak as chants of “MVP! MVP!” came from all over Madison Square Garden.
After the game, Brunson said, “It was cool the whole thing—the night, how we won, and the events before the game.”
“Sometimes you work hard for them, but you never understand how to handle them when they come up, so it was unique.”