Knicks blow out Hornets after slow start, but Jalen Brunson leaves game in the third quarter

When Tom Thibodeau spent much of his postgame news conference Tuesday repeating a mantra of “just worried about Charlotte” to nearly every question, you could believe him. He’d gone through this just days earlier.

Last Friday, the Knicks faced a depleted Hornets squad in Charlotte to finish off a five-game road trip and barely managed a one-point victory. That’s why Thibodeau will never allow himself to look ahead.

Sometimes warnings fall on deaf ears, though, and the Knicks found themselves down by 13 points minutes into Thursday night’s game against the Hornets at Madison Square Garden.

With that, the wake-up call was activated — one that Thibodeau hopes lasts longer than this night.

First it was Jalen Brunson dragging them back into the game with 19 of his 24 points in the first quarter. Josh Hart took over in the second quarter with 14 of his 18 points. OG Anunoby scored 15 of his 25 points in the third quarter as the Knicks turned that early deficit into a 28-point lead in their 125-101 win.

The fourth quarter? Karl-Anthony Towns, who pulled down 16 rebounds, had 12 of his 27 points. Mikal Bridges finished with 19.

“I think we put ourselves in a hole in the first quarter,” Brunson said. “ . . . And then the beginning of the second half is how we should have started the game. We came out with a lot of energy defensively, got stops and easy baskets, and that’s that.”

Even as they pulled away in this game, the Knicks demonstrated why nothing is taken for granted. Brunson collided with Charlotte’s Nick Richards in the third quarter, taking a hard shot to his right side in the hip area. He remained in the game for only a few more minutes before going to the locker room with 2:39 left in the third.

When the period ended, his father, assistant coach Rick Brunson, went to the locker room, too. The younger Brunson finally emerged with 6:29 left in the game, returning to the bench with a wrap around his torso. He was listed as available. “I feel amazing,” he said. “I’ll see how I feel tomorrow. And that’s it.”

The Knicks didn’t need to push Brunson back onto the floor as they dominated the second half, outscoring Charlotte 38-16 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.

Anunoby had a sequence in the third quarter in which he swatted a shot deep into the stands behind the Knicks’ bench and, on the same possession, swatted another shot into the stands on the other side of the basket, drawing chants of “O-G” from the crowd.

“I think we just came out, we executed better,” Towns said. “We made shots more difficult for them and we got turnovers, and the turnovers, we translated that to offense.

“So they’re a really good team over there. A young team, very talented, they present a lot of problems and, you know, just at halftime, we were able to get more disciplined and execute at a higher level.”

This was the latest test for the Knicks — not of how they measure up to the best in the NBA, but of how they can take advantage of a stretch of the schedule that is stocked with winnable games.

The Knicks easily handled depleted New Orleans and dominated a solid Orlando team to start the month. They have won nine of their last 11 games to move to 14-8, and there is reason to believe they can keep it going.

Thibodeau may not want to do it, but we can look at the schedule and see that in December, the Knicks have an advantageous series of games that can position them for the postseason.

According to NBA.com’s strength-of-schedule rankings, the Knicks have the easiest schedule in the league this month — at least before figuring in the NBA Cup schedule, which to this point has provided only a quarterfinal matchup with the Atlanta Hawks next Wednesday. The Knicks have only one back-to-back set and face eight teams below .500 and five with winning records (Orlando again, Minnesota, San Antonio and the Cup game against Atlanta).

“I think we all look at the schedule,” Hart said. “I think, one, just out of curiosity, we want to know what the month entails. We have enough teams that have struggled so far, but at the end of the day, those teams, they’re all good players that are here for a reason, so we can’t sit here and take anyone too lightly . . . When you give guys life, opposing teams life, sometimes that’s the worst thing you can do.’’

Notes & quotes: Cam Payne was held out of the game with what the team called left elbow effusion . . . Precious Achiuwa made his regular-season debut after suffering a strained hamstring in the preseason. He played 12 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing four rebounds, and was greeted with an ovation when he reported to the scorer's table for the first time. “It means a lot to me,” he said. “Obviously, New York is very dear to my heart. So just being able to go out there and hearing the crowd, it meant a lot to me. Definitely watching from the sideline has been very tough, but just being out there and knowing that the crowd is behind me throughout the whole process has been very reassuring.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.