Knicks roll past Raptors as six players score in double figures
The Knicks’ Jalen Brunson drives to the basket against the Raptors’ Jamal Shead at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Knicks fans aren’t the only ones who want to shout “MVP! MVP!” when they hear Jalen Brunson’s name.
For the second time in three days, Knicks coach Mike Brown has used a news conference to make a case for the Knicks superstar point guard being included in the early MVP conversation.
Brown first broached the subject Friday after Brunson scored 37 to lead the Knicks to a win over Milwaukee. He then doubled down in his news conference before the Knicks’ 116-94 victory Sunday over the Toronto Raptors at the Garden.
“When I see people talking or I see lists, I never see him,” Brown said of MVP banter. “I’m amazed at the lack of attention he gets for what he’s done in this league already and what he continues to do, night in and night. out. Especially, when he’s the guy on a team that’s in a pretty good spot in their conference.”
One thing is for sure: Brunson is the MVK, the Most Valuable Knick.
Brunson has kept the team from unraveling after losing OG Anunoby, the team’s best two-way player, to a hamstring injury. Brunson missed two games after injuring his ankle in a loss to Orlando on Nov. 12. In his six games back — all without Anunoby — the Knicks are 5-1. Brunson has scored more than 30 points three times in that stretch.
The Knicks didn’t need him to score 30 Sunday night to beat this Raptors team, which had been on a nine-game win streak when they lost an overtime game in Charlotte Saturday.
Instead, the Knicks featured a well-balanced offensive attack. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Josh Hart scored 20 and had 12 boards. Deuce McBride scored 12 of his 14 points in the first quarter, all on three-pointers. Mitchell Robinson collected 15 rebounds in less than 17 minutes and Brunson added 18 points and was a team-best plus-25 when he was on the court.
Hearing a coach plug his best player for MVP is a true dog bites man story. Still, Brown is right on this one. The way Brunson has been playing since Anunoby was injured, it’s hard to believe that he wasn’t ranked among the top 10 players this past Friday on NBA.com’s MVP Ladder rankings.
It’s tough to argue with Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic being listed as the three favorites. But are No. 8 Tyrese Maxey, No. 9 Alperen Sengun and No. 10 Jalen Johnson more worthy than Brunson, who is listed alphabetically as an honorable mention.
Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic believes that Brunson belongs in the conversation with the league’s elite.
“He is the type of player that I can put in the category of Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic — different position, obviously,” Rajakovic said before Sunday’s game. “But guys who are just playing at their own pace. You cannot speed them up. Their awareness is amazing. At any point of time they know where the hand of the defensive player is . . . He’s not the strongest, not the fastest, but his skill level and shooting ability is amazing and that makes him one of the biggest offensive weapons in the league.”
It’s not always easy for smaller guards to break into the MVP conversation. In fact, no player under 6-6 has won the award since James Harden in 2017-18. Only three players shorter than 6-4 have been MVPs: Allen Iverson, Bob Cousy and Steve Nash.
Brunson, who is listed at 6-2, finished 10th in last year’s MVP voting, receiving just two fifth- place votes. He did, however, win the Clutch Player of the Year award as he made play after play to win big games for the Knicks in crunch time.
Brunson’s footwork, says Brown, makes him one of the most difficult covers he’s seen.
“I’ve been fortunate, blessed, lucky to be around a bunch of great players and Jalen’s footwork around the basket, especially for his size, is probably second to none,” Brown said. “His footwork is really good. I’ll probably get killed for saying this but Kobe’s footwork was really good, and I’m not saying Jalen’s Kobe or vice versa. Their patience, their footwork in that painted area is at an extremely high level and not many guys have that.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
