Jalen Brunson scores 31 as Knicks beat Hawks for first win of season
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) shoots against Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela (15) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, in Atlanta. Credit: AP/Mike Stewart
ATLANTA — Opening night, with all of the expectations on display at Madison Square Garden, had not gone as planned. The Knicks suffered a tough loss to the Celtics and Jalen Brunson struggled through an uncharacteristically difficult night. Afterward, he assured anyone listening that he was taking the blame and that he would make the corrections.
So it didn’t take his career-best eight three-point field goals Friday night to prove that point. Asked when the moment came that he knew Brunson had it going, RJ Barrett paused and said, “Um, at the end of the last game.”
Brunson had 31 points, outdueling Atlanta’s Trae Young, and carried the Knicks to a 126-120 victory at State Farm Arena, their first win of the season.
Only two members of the starting five remain on the Knicks’ roster from the team that found itself in a contentious playoff series with the Hawks two seasons ago. The Hawks dominated and Young emerged as a villain at the Garden, drawing the ire (and spit) of fans and taunts from then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
When the two teams met Friday, there was little thought among the Knicks’ players about Young, other than how he fit in the game plan. And even if he arrived with much less visible swagger, Brunson arrived very much on the Hawks’ minds. Both teams were focused on the same thing — how to stop the dangerous opposing point guard.
On this night, though, the Knicks held Young to 18 points on an uncharacteristic 4-for-16 shooting night as Quentin Grimes chased him around the court. But for the Knicks, it wasn’t just Brunson. He combined with Barrett (26 points and six assists) and Julius Randle (17 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists) to move the ball among each other in a way that portended good things for an offense that was third in offensive rating last season.
“The thing that I loved about it was they did it together,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Like mainly Julius creating offense, RJ creating offense, Jalen creating offense, and so it was a good rhythm there. Sometimes you can beat them with your scoring. You can beat them with your passing. Sometimes someone gets a hot hand, whatever it might be, but you’re prioritizing winning and you’re sacrificing for the team, you’re putting the team first. And so I love the threes that Jalen took. I thought they were great rhythm threes, the ball was in the paint, kicked out, great rhythm, or it was drive-pass-pass. Good rhythm on that as well.”
“The ball is hitting the paint and then everyone is making plays,” Brunson said. “We have a lot of guys who can attack and create for themselves. A lot of people draw a lot of attention, so when we play off of each other, it makes things a lot easier.”
Young had a chance to give the Hawks the lead with just over four minutes left but misfired on a long three-pointer, and Barrett scored to give the Knicks a four-point lead. As the teams traded buckets, Young got to the rim with just under three minutes left to cut the lead to two again, but Brunson drove to the rim to answer it.
The teams converted seven straight shots between them before the Hawks finally missed and Randle’s three-pointer upped the Knicks’ lead to 121-114. But with the score 122-115, DeAndre Hunter hit a three-pointer and Grimes lost control of the ball and fouled Young, whose two free throws with 29.4 seconds left made it 122-120.
The Knicks had to survive down the stretch with three turnovers in the final 71 seconds. Brunson threw a pass for Barrett that rolled out of bounds near midcourt, giving Atlanta possession with 24 seconds left. But Clint Capela missed on a lob from Young and Randle’s two free throws with 16 seconds left pushed the lead to four. Young raced the ball up the floor but missed an uncontested layup, and Randle added three free throws in the final seconds.
“We’ve got to close a game better than that,” Barrett said. “I’ve got to step to the ball, trying to receive the ball. That was on me. We’ve just got to close better. Second game of the season, so things like that are to be expected right now. But we’ve got to try to clean that up as quick as we can.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
