Jalen Brunson so often receives beckoning “MVP” chants around Madison Square Garden.
Well, MVPs have a habit of raising their game to another level when co-stars, particularly ones as important as OG Anunoby, are out. And that’s exactly what Brunson did.
He put the team on his back and led a furious Knicks fourth-quarter comeback en route to their 124-118 win over the shorthanded Rockets on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
For a while, this brought back eerily similar memories to what the Knicks looked like last year without Anunoby.
They found themselves down 11 points entering the fourth quarter.
Amen Thompson, without Anunoby there to guard him, was torching their defense. They were struggling mightily from 3-point range.
Life without Anunoby, who received the biggest contract in franchise history this past offseason, is much harder. But the Knicks clearly weren’t in the mood for excuses.
Teams that want to consider themselves contenders don’t allow themselves to make any.
They promptly outscored the Rockets, 46-29 in the fourth quarter. Brunson scored seven straight Knicks points late in the quarter to give them a 118-114 lead.
Then, he stripped Thompson on defense to win possession back for the Knicks. He then was fouled and drilled both free throws – making it nine straight Knicks points for him – to extend the lead to 120-116 with 21.2 seconds left.
That was enough.
He led all scorers with 42 points. He added 10 assists as well.
