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Knicks guard Jalen Brunson gestures after scoring a three-point basket...

Knicks guard Jalen Brunson gestures after scoring a three-point basket against the Denver Nuggets in the first half of an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

As the chants began to echo through Madison Square Garden, growing louder and reaching all levels of the arena, it seemed almost insulting.

There were shouts of “MVP” for Jalen Brunson when just a few feet away from Brunson stood Nikola Jokic, the three-time winner of the award and arguably one of two players in contention for the award this season.

But it wasn’t just the home crowd creating the story on this night. Brunson was the best player on the floor and as it has been on many nights this season, it was enough to carry the Knicks to a 122-112 victory over the Nuggets on Wednesday.

As it has been throughout the streak, the Knicks got contributions up and down the lineup. OG Anunoby had 23 points. Mikal Bridges had 13 points and again was a defensive key. Josh Hart seemed to be everywhere on both ends, scoring 15 points.

Karl-Anthony Towns battled Jokic, sending him to the bench with early foul trouble and finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Knicks limited Jokic to 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting in 33 minutes.

But it was Brunson once again who was the difference, finishing with 30 points and 15 assists, and maybe not making those chants seem so odd. In the fourth quarter Brunson would not score a point. But he handed out seven assists, orchestrating the offense and preserving a hard-fought win.

In the deciding run it was Brunson handing out three consecutive assists for layups. First, he found Hart cutting to the rim with the Knicks up four and 4:13 to play. Towns blocked a Russell Westbrook drive and Brunson led a break, finding Bridges for a reverse layup and a 114-106 lead. Next trip down it was Brunson to Hart for a double-digit lead and a Denver timeout with 2:44 to play. It was three perfectly orchestrated assists in a span of one minute and 29 seconds.

“He was just special,” Towns said. “ ‘Cap’ is special. Everyone knows. We needed him to score tonight, we needed him to do what he does best. And he did that. That’s why he’s special. Whenever his name is called in the biggest moment, he’s ready.”

“Teammates are able to make plays,” Brunson said. “I was able to get them the ball. Just reading the game.”

It was the Knicks’ fifth consecutive win and the third straight against a Western Conference playoff team. It gave them a season sweep of the Nuggets.

“They’re playing really well,” Jokic said. “They’re well-coached, they’re pushing the pace and in the halfcourt they know what they’re doing. So they’re a really good team. I think they are the favorites, not the favorites, but I think top-five candidates for the title.”

“I think over the course of the season, these are good things for us to go through,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.

“It tells us exactly where we are, the things we have to work on. And I know we’re a lot further along than where we were the first month of the season. And I hope after the next two months we’re further along than where we are today. When you play these types of games and you go through these things, every night you’re tested.”

Before the game Denver coach Mike Malone noted that the Knicks had scored 145 points in their first meeting this season and might be better now. “They looked really together when we played them earlier in the. year,” Malone said. “ ... Sometimes it’s like they are going to run you out of the gym.

“Right now the Knicks are firing on all cylinders. I don’t see a weakness. And that’s always scary when you are about to play a team that is playing well.”

Towns drew a pair of fouls on Jokic just 1:21 into the game and Jokic exited after two minutes and 12 seconds. He did not return until 7:14 remained in the first half. When Jokic left the game the Nuggets were up 6-5 and the Knicks rattled off the next 13 points to take a 12-point lead.

But they were unable to pull away in Jokic’s absence with Denver cutting the lead to 31-27 by the end of the first quarter and pulling even at 35 before the Knicks pushed back in front, holding a 43-37 advantage when Jokic returned.

When he took the floor again the Knicks repeatedly attacked the basket and were able to take advantage with Jokic trying to avoid the third foul. But still, they led just 60-54 at the intermission.

Denver took the lead back in the third quarter, but it was Brunson’s scoring in that period that turned the game back in the Knicks’ favor. He piled up 18 points to give the Knicks a seven-point lead after three.

“Doing what we needed him to do,” Hart said. “Being aggressive and then everything else kind of opens with that.”

Notes & quotes: Mitchell Robinson still has yet to practice as we approach the end of January. It's a point in the schedule the team had originally penciled in as a return time for him from the ankle surgery he underwent in May. Thibodeau said, “He’s running, jumping [and] doing all that stuff. He hasn’t had contact yet and that’s really probably the next step for him is the contact aspect of it. There’s some contact but it’s very controlled.”

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