Knicks roll past Suns with double-doubles from Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns
Jalen Brunson #11 of the Knicks handles the ball against Royce O'Neale #00 of the Phoenix Suns during the first half of the NBA game at Footprint Center on November 20, 2024 in Phoenix. Credit: Getty Images/Christian Petersen
PHOENIX — Hours before the game began Wednesday night Jalen Brunson was asked if he had fond memories of his last journey to the Footprint Center.
“I guess, yeah,” he said and it took some coaxing to get him to admit he knew where the ball was that the Knicks wrestled for at the end of the game last season to hand him a souvenir of the 50-point near-perfect performance he put on that night.
For a player who doesn’t live in the past, it seemed to do little good to recall the 9-for-9 shooting performance from three-point range or the 12-for-12 overall shooting in the second half of that game.
At least it seemed meaningless to him until he took the court and seemed on target to repeat it. Brunson drained his first five attempts beyond the arc, running a stretch in this arena to 14 without a miss, before finally misfiring.
There would be no history on this night and no need to chase down a game ball, but Brunson led the Knicks to a methodical and dominant 138-122 win over the Phoenix Suns.
As Brunson came back to earth after a torrid start, finishing with 36 points and 10 assists, Karl-Anthony Towns nearly matched him with 34 points and 10 rebounds.
With Josh Hart contributing 19 points and 11 rebounds the Knicks once again had all five starters with at least 14 points.
The victory gave the Knicks a positive start to a five-game road trip and is their fourth straight win and fifth in the last six games.
The Suns were without Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, both nursing calf injuries which are expected to keep them out until next week.
“Just got to start with Phoenix and be ready for that game,” Mikal Bridges said before the trip began.
“And that’s all that matters at this point.”
The Knicks were unable to turn this game into a laugher despite building the early lead, but they also never let the Suns get fully back into the game, leading by double figures for the final 41 minutes of the game.
It wasn’t just Brunson who was clicking offensively. The Knicks scored a season-high in points and shot 19-for-39 from three. They have already been one of the most efficient offensive squads in the NBA this season. But if Brunson is beginning to find his form from last season — and he is now 12-for-20 from three over the last two games — the Knicks have another level to hit.
“The guys are starting to get used to playing off each other,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
“Each game you can see that they’re seeing things. They’re reading the game extremely well. I think they are creating good spacing. They’re cutting extremely well and what that’s doing is it’s opening up the floor and we’re playing into space.
“And everyone is unselfish — 30 assists. I think that’s huge.”
As a team the Knicks sank their first eight shots of the game and hardly cooled off as the first quarter wore on, converting 18-for-23 from the floor as they built a 44-28 lead. The lead ballooned to as many as 24 in the first half and the Knicks held a 76-58 lead at the intermission with Brunson contributing 23 points and seven assists.
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.
