Knicks rally to beat Wizards in overtime behind Jalen Brunson's 55 points

WASHINGTON — If you had been told that the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson was going to pile up 55 points and Karl-Anthony Towns was going to record 30 points and 14 rebounds against the worst team in the Eastern Conference, would you have felt safe enjoying your Saturday night without watching?

Maybe covering your eyes would have been the proper strategy. The Knicks needed every bit of those heroics to escape Capital One Arena with a frantic 136-132 overtime victory over the Washington Wizards.

As happens most nights, what the Knicks need is what Brunson delivers. Some nights it’s playmaking. Some nights it’s leadership. And on this night the Knicks needed someone to do it all — and it came just hours after he finally was cleared to play despite a tight right calf.

It’s what, even on the road — admittedly before a crowd filled with a huge contingent of Knicks fans — made every point down the stretch met with chants of “MVP!”

It was the second-highest total of his career behind the 61 he had against the Spurs last March. With three 50-plus games, Brunson tied Richie Guerin for the second-most in franchise history (trailing only Bernard King’s five). He had 42 of his points in 25:36 after halftime — 19 in the third quarter and 23 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

“It just happened,” he said. “That’s the way the game was flowing. Looked up at the scoreboard and it says 50-something. So that is what it is.”

“Yeah, I mean, we needed it,” Josh Hart said. “This one was a tough one for us. Back-to-back. I felt a little old today. So a lot of us felt the same way. We were a little slow. But he made big shots. That’s why he’s the captain. Find a way to win.”

The Knicks trailed by as many as 11 late in the third quarter and didn’t pull even until Brunson delivered a shot in the lane with 10.8 seconds left in regulation. But he did just enough to give the Knicks their seventh straight win. They improved to 22-10 — with 17 wins in their last 21 games — and dropped the Wizards to 5-24.

“We were a step slow all night,” Brunson said. “You’ve got to give them credit. Fourth quarter we picked it up a little bit, found a way to put the game in our favor. It took overtime, but still it took a lot tonight.”

Hart gave the Knicks the lead to start the overtime session, assisted on Mikal Bridges’ dunk and then scored in transition, matching the Knicks’ largest lead of the game at 125-121.

But even with Brunson dominating the action, the Knicks still found themselves leading by only one with 21 seconds left after Brunson’s turnover and Malcolm Brogdon’s fast-break basket. The Knicks milked 10 seconds off the clock before Brunson was fouled with 10.4 seconds left. He hit both free throws, giving the Knicks a three-point lead and leaving Washington with one more chance to tie.

The Knicks fouled Brogdon with 9.3 seconds left and he hit both free throws, closing the gap to one again. This time the Knicks played keep-away until Brunson was fouled with 4.2 seconds left, and he sank two free throws for a three-point lead.

When the Knicks again fouled to keep Washington from attempting a three-pointer, Brogdon hit the first and intentionally missed the second. But Hart grabbed the loose ball, was fouled with seven-tenths of a second left and hit both free throws.

“We didn’t have much going and so give them a lot of credit,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought they played a great game. We got down eight, 10, and then fought like crazy to give ourselves a chance to win and just find different ways to win when nothing’s going your way. And Jalen certainly — the shotmaking was incredible, the playmaking. I thought Karl gave us really good minutes and Mikal was terrific. Josh, his hustle. And the fourth quarter, we did what we had to do to get it done.’’

The Knicks could point to playing on the second night of a road back-to-back and maybe taking the last-place Wizards too lightly. But that is the exact scenario that they insist they have prepared to face.

“That’s why each and every day is so important,’’ Thibodeau said before the game. “It’s easy to get distracted in this league because of the volume of games and the different circumstances, whether it’s an early start, late start, a back-to-back, a Christmas Day.

“That’s why it’s so important to have a routine and be able to focus on everything you’re trying to do each day and to not get bored with things and don’t skip over things. When you start taking shortcuts, it shows in your performance.”

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.