Knicks' five-game winning streak ends at hands of Kyrie Irving, Mavericks
Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving moves the ball against Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, left, during the first half of an NBA game in Dallas on Thursday. Credit: LM Otero
DALLAS — The night seemed like the perfect setting for a homecoming.
Jalen Brunson was back to play at American Airlines Center for the first time since his departure from the Mavericks. Dallas native Julius Randle had family and friends courtside. And the Mavs were without three starters, including Luka Doncic, who had posted a 60-point triple-double when the Knicks were here last season.
But Kyrie Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. spoiled the event for Brunson, dominating the night and ending the Knicks’ winning streak at five games, 128-124.
The Knicks fell behind with a nightmarish first quarter and were chasing all night — until the final minute, when, trailing by one, they gave up three offensive rebounds before Josh Green finally connected on a three-pointer.
“It’s a big part of the game,” Brunson said of the failure to grab the rebound in that crucial spot. “But I think we started the game terrible. I started the game terrible. We shouldn’t be in that position. Now we got to be ready to go from the jump. We fought back, that’s a good sign, but obviously we need to get that rebound, but we started from the beginning of the game.”
Brunson finished with 30 points and eight assists but struggled before scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter. Randle scored 32 points, much of it coming in the third quarter as the Knicks pushed to make a game of it. But Irving carried the night with 44 points and former Knick Hardaway added 32.
Brunson was greeted with mostly applause in pregame introductions, but the welcome home turned sour once the opening tip went up. He didn’t convert his first field goal until 8:10 into the game — and the Knicks already were down double-digits at that point.
Brunson was hit with a technical foul in the final minute by referee Danielle Scott. Oddly, Tom Thibodeau had just screamed at her until he was out of breath, and Brunson’s technical came as he was running upcourt after a dunk by Randle. He told her he was not talking to her, but yelling to Thibodeau.
The first half ended with Brunson called for a dead ball offensive foul, his third foul of the half, with 2.3 seconds left as he ran into Grant Williams while trying to get loose for an inbounds pass. The Mavs, with 18 points from both Irving and Hardaway,, led 74-55 at the break.
The Knicks came out in the second half more aggressive — offensively, not fouling — and after trailing by as many as 21 points, needed only a little more than six minutes to pull within six, with Randle scoring 18 points in that span.
But with OG Anunoby and Donte DiVincenzo taking turns trying to stop him — and playing solid defense — Irving still made shot after shot, quickly pushing the lead back to 16 and allowing the Mavs to head into the fourth quarter with a 101-86 lead.
Down 10 with less than three minutes left, the Knicks closed to within 119-114 on Brunson’s three-pointer with 2:10 remaining. Green answered with a shot at the rim, but Brunson pushed the pace and scored, drawing a foul for a three-point play with 1:43 left to move the Knicks within four.
When Irving missed through a triple-team defensive effort, the Knicks pushed the ball again, DiVincenzo hit a corner three and the Knicks were down 121-120 with 1:08 left.
The defense stiffened and the Mavericks missed three shots but got the loose ball every time. Green finally sank an open three with 25.9 seconds left to put Dallas back up by four.
“We always were making runs and then they answered them, making runs,” Randle said. “We thought we had a final breakthrough in the fourth but couldn’t get the rebound. Last two times we’ve been here, I feel like we lost because we couldn’t get rebounds in the end. Unfortunate. We didn’t do ourselves any favors to start the game, how we started. So we’ve got to come prepared, more ready to play.”
Some luster was removed with the news that Doncic, whom Brunson played behind and alongside, would not play on this night because of an ankle injury. But there is so much more to Brunson’ s tenure — and mostly his ending — in Dallas.
His time in Dallas was, well, complicated. He arrived as a second-round pick and slowly proved himself to be much more than the backup point guard he was with the Mavericks. Then contract extension negotiations deteriorated in a strange parting.
While Brunson downplayed the significance of his return before the game, insisting there was no extra motivation, that was hard to believe.
It isn't nearly as hard to believe that he would like to forget this night.
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.
