Knicks’ Jalen Brunson hit with technical in frustrating Dallas return

DALLAS — A frustrated Jalen Brunson picked up a technical foul in the second quarter for complaining to a referee, and the point guard acknowledged it affected his play as the Knicks were pummeled in the first half of a 128-124 loss to the Mavericks on Thursday night.

“Yeah, it’s tough. I can’t be in that mindset of letting things frustrate me,” said Brunson, who finished with 30 points but only shot 4 of 12 in the first half. “I got to be better. And we got to be ready from the start of the game and that’s on me.”

After picking up the technical, Brunson claimed on the court that he was directing his words toward coach Tom Thibodeau, not referee Danielle Scott. He declined to explain his frustration after the game, fearing a fine from the league.

“I love to keep my money,” he said. “So I’m going to keep my money.”

The Knicks were whistled for 25 fouls compared to Dallas’s 19 but took only two fewer foul shots. The discrepancy was a lot wider in the first half.

“Hey look, sometimes — and I understand, I don’t really care if the game was called tight or it was called loosely. I just want consistency,” Thibodeau said. “So there was some frustration there but that’s all part of it. We’ve got to handle that.”