Jalen Brunson refused to let the Knicks lose — scoring 42 points while carrying NY in the 3rd quarter and making big bucket after big bucket down the stretch — for a 124-118 “signature” win over Houston on a Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Rockets came in as the 2nd best team in the West with a 32-16 record, while the Knicks came in #3 in the East with a 32-17 record.
Brunson had help — Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 pts, 9 rebounds, and a +16; Mikal Bridges scored 22 pts; Josh Hart had 19 pts, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists; Precious Achiuwa played 33 strong minutes at power forward in place of the injured OG Anunoby; and the Knick team defense excelled down the stretch.
“You have to win games different ways,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “We knew it would be that type of game. The physicality; playing small; the aggressiveness of it. We got in a hole but we found a way to win.”
“And I love the way we responded in the 4th quarter,” continued Thibs. “Whatever it was going to take, we were going to do. The hustle plays; Jalen making big shots; Josh hustle plays; Mikal was unbelievable. We had a lot of guys step up. I thought our bench gave us good minutes. KAT was aggressive. Just find ways to win the game and don’t let anything break us; just keep fighting.”
NY improves to 33-17 and leapfrog Houston which falls to 32-17. NY remains 2 behind Boston and 7 behind Cleveland in the East.
1. Houston Up by 2 After 1st Quarter
Houston was without their star point guard Fred VanVleet — who is out week-to-week with an ankle sprain — and Alperen Sengun, their 6’11” big man averaging 19.2 ppg and 10.6 rpg who gave the Knicks trouble when the Rockets beat NY 109-97 in Houston in early November.
Houston was also without Jabari Smith Jr, their 6’11 big man who was the #3 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft. But Jabari has had a disappointing NBA career so far. He is averaging 11.9 ppg and 6.5 rpg in this his 3rd year in the league and has recently been losing playing time to Tari Eason, the 6’8 forward who was the #17 pick by Houston in the 2022 draft. Eason is averaging 11.2 ppg and 6.3 rpg, and scored 12 pts in this game — but with a -17.
The Rockets are led by Jalen Green — the 6’4 guard who was the #2 overall pick by Houston in the 2022 draft, and Amen Thompson — the 6’7 forward who was the #4 overall pick by Houston in the 2023 draft.
Amen Thompson was a tough cover on this night, with a triple double: 25 pts on 9-17 shooting (0-2 from 3; 7-7 in free throws), 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Thompson is averaging 13.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg, and 3.1 apg on the season.
Jalen Green scored 21 pts on 9-22 shooting but it was sloppy basketball with an occasional brilliant drive– he shot 1-8 from 3 and had 6 turnovers.
Houston — coached by Ime Udoka — plays a gritty, defensive brand of basketball, with Dillon Brooks a key part of the starting team.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges did a lot of the Knicks early scoring, and then Jalen Brunson weighed in. Houston had a 2-pt lead after a quarter. Houston 27 NY 25.
let ’em know @karltowns‼️ pic.twitter.com/W3e3iFL4qB
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 4, 2025
2. Houston Up by 5 at the Half
Houston’s bench outplayed the Knick bench overall; Cam Whitmore scored 18 pts on 7-14 shooting in 23 minutes with a +9, Steven Adams played 26 heady minutes with 8 pts, 13 rebounds, and a +18, and Aaron Holiday killed the Knicks with his outside shooting — scoring 15 pts on 6-10 shooting (3-7 from 3) in 17 minutes.
Cam Whitmore hit a 3 to start the 2nd quarter, followed by buckets by Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, and Steven Adams for a 9-0 Houston run giving them an 11-pt lead at 36-25.
NY was down by 12 points before Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart led a run that pulled NY to within 7 — and a Brunson drive got NY back to within 5 points at the half.
3. Brunson Refuses to Let Houston Pull Away in the 3rd
But Houston put NY on their heels again to start the 2nd half. Amen Thompson and Jalen Green opened up the 3rd quarter with scores and Houston was up by 9 again.
That’s when Jalen Brunson put on his Superman cape and would not let the Knicks fall back any further. He scored on 3 consecutive drives to pull NY to within 63-60.
Then Josh Hart took over with consecutive drives and NY had a 64-63 lead with 7:29 left in the 3rd.
Then a play of the game: Karl-Anthony Towns stealing the ball from Jalen Green, feeding Brunson who fed Bridges for a layup and NY was up 66-63.
The Knicks are ROLLING 🫨
A 10-0 run gives them the lead over Houston in the 3rd 😤 pic.twitter.com/ijlcIGpDXK
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 4, 2025
4. Houston Late Flurry Puts them up 11 Entering 4th
NY was up 74-73 with 3 minutes left in the quarter when Houston put the Knicks on their heels again with a wild run — started by Cam Whitmore and Aaron Holiday with back-to-back 3’s, then both doing it again following a Brunson score. Houston was up 84-76 and a dunk-and-1 by Amen Thompson to end the quarter put the Rockets up 89-78.
5. Brunson Carries Knicks in Last 7 Minutes
NY was down by 11 points early in the 4th when a Karl-Anthony Towns 3 began the Knicks final comeback.
A Cameron Payne drive followed by an inside drive by KAT pulled NY to within 7. Payne was giving Brunson a rest to start the quarter.
The Brunson-Led Comeback
NY was down by 8 points when Jalen Brunson re-entered the game with 7:20 left.
- A Josh Hart offensive rebound, putback-and-1 pulled NY to within 4, at 99-95.
that @joshhart hustle 💪 pic.twitter.com/qitAoT9cvl
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 4, 2025
- A Miles McBride 3 pulled NY to within 3 with 6:20 left.
🗣️ DEUUUUUUUUCE pic.twitter.com/TZfoUWZyvj
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 4, 2025
That’s when Jalen Brunson took over — making drive after drive to the basket — countering buckets by Houston.
- A Brunson floater pulled NY to within 3 with 5:53 left.
- Aaron Holiday countered with a 3 to put Houston back up by 6.
- Brunson was hounded by Houston at midcourt and fouled — Houston challenged but lost the challenge — Brunson made the free throws and NY was down by 4 with 5:14 left.
Then another play of the game — KAT blocked Jalen Green’s drive, fed Brunson who fed Hart for a drive and NY was down by 2 at 106-104.
this was a WIIIIILD sequence 🤯 pic.twitter.com/qLunHgyXBV
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 4, 2025
- Amen Thompson hit free throws, but
- Brunson countered with a floater and NY was down 2 with 4:08 left.
See Saw
- Brunson fed KAT for a drive-and-1 and NY had the lead, 109-108.
KAT BIG AND-ONE pic.twitter.com/sj2BglfbxK
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) February 4, 2025
- Green hit a jumper to put Houston up 1.
- Bridges responded with a jumper and NY was back up 1 with 2:57 left.
- Green hit free throws to put Houston back up 1 with 2:12 left.
- Brunson slithered thru for a drive and NY was back up 1 with 1:59 left.
- Amen Thompson dunked to put Houston back up 1 with 1:49 left.
- Brunson drove for Another clutch bucket and NY was back up 1 with 1:38 left, 115-114.
- Then — Amen Thompson missed a 3 — and Brunson came down and Hit a HUGE 3-pointer for a 4-pt Knick lead with 1 minute left. Houston timeout.
JALEN. BRUNSON. BANG pic.twitter.com/M9rahwVipt
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) February 4, 2025
“Jalen Brunson stays in attack mode, keeps coming at u and even when his shot isn’t falling early,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “He gets himself to the line to see the ball go through the hole which not only gets him in rhythm but allows him to hit big shots down the stretch. Also, created for others and fearless.”
End Game Knick DEFENSE
Dillon Brooks made free throws to pull Houston within 2, but
With 27 seconds left, Jalen Brunson stole the ball from Amen Thompson, was fouled, and hit both free throws to put NY up 4 again.
Josh Hart then stole the ball from Steven Adams with 11 seconds left and that was ballgame.
Houston was forced to foul — and Hart and Brunson made all their clutch free throws in the final seconds.
Be the first to comment