Jalen Brunson’s late burst leads Knicks to hard-fought win over reeling 76ers
NY Post
The Knicks’ winless record against the top three teams in the NBA felt like a first-world problem when compared to the skidding team they ousted in the first round of the playoffs last spring.
Following their latest deflating losses to Eastern Conference powerhouses Cleveland and Boston over the weekend, however, the Knicks had all they could handle with the reeling 76ers before pulling out a sloppy 110-105 victory Wednesday night at the Garden.
“Yeah, we needed that. Just happy that we came away with the win,” said Jalen Brunson, who bailed out the Knicks down the stretch with 11 of his 34 points in the final 3:39. “But we still got a lot of work to do.”
The Sixers, who have been without All-Star center Joel Embiid for all but 19 games this season, have crashed out of the top 10 playoff positions in the East with nine consecutive losses.
It now makes sense why Brian Griese passed on a head coaching interview with the Jets.
In the NBA, and really in any league, it’s always about the chase for the stars. It’s about the path to get there — via drafting and developing, via free agency, via a blockbuster trade — and envisioning what those moves could become. The Knicks went through the chase for years before landing Jalen Brunson (free agency), OG Anunoby (trade), Mikal Bridges (trade) and Karl-Anthony Towns (trade) in a span of around 27 months between July 2022 and Oct. 2024. Brooklyn remains scarred by its failed Big 3. The Suns went for the splashes of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal to form a Big 3 alongside Devin Booker, too.
INDIANAPOLIS — If this, then that. If that, then this. If this and that, then what?
INDIANAPOLIS — The new Jets decision-makers repeatedly expressed their desire to keep good players on their roster on Tuesday.
Jonny B. good and the Islanders’ ship be sinking.
TAMPA — Chase Hampton found the silver lining of what could have been a crushing diagnosis: It was a diagnosis with no wiggle room.
Karl-Anthony Towns practiced Tuesday after leaving Sunday’s game briefly against Boston and said he would see how his knee felt Wednesday before determining whether he’d play against the 76ers at Madison Square Garden.
Free throws are king in today’s NBA, and players like Jalen Brunson will do anything to get them.
With the Rams allowing Matthew Stafford to speak with other teams, Los Angeles could have a quarterback void to fill this offseason.
The Philadelphia Eagles can just laugh at defenses who try to stop the tush push, and now they’re laughing at those who want the play banned.
INDIANAPOLIS — The only way that the Jets could’ve fared better than drafting Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson in 2022 is if it only cost one top 10 pick to secure two foundational cornerstones.
The Knicks will get three more chances in April to be more competitive against the two teams above them in the Eastern Conference standings.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Jets have left Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood. Now, their search for a new identity begins.