Jalen Brunson hit seemingly every shot he took in the 1st quarter in outscoring the entire Bulls team 22-21, leading the Knicks to a start-to-finish BLOWOUT of the Bulls on a Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
OG Anunoby picked up the scoring baton from Brunson in the 2nd quarter — hitting 3’s and picking up a ton of free throws on drives, and then new Knick and former Laker Dalton Knecht took the spotlight with a GAME — 10 pts on 4-6 shooting (2-4 from 3), 7 rebounds, and a chase-down block. Knecht’s performance went viral on X with Laker fans cursing JJ Redick for not playing him in LA (view comments here).
The Knicks looked like the gaslight team that ripped through last year’s playoffs — with ball movement, scoring from everywhere, and Defense. Chicago kept missing their shots and NY rolled — to a 20+ lead by the 2nd quarter, an 84-52 lead at the half, and a 40+ point lead in the 3rd into the 4th quarters.
Brunson was 8-10 from the floor including 4-5 from 3 in that 1st quarter, and finished with 33 pts on 10-17 shooting (5-10 from 3) in only 28 minutes as he and the entire starting team were pulled late in the 3rd and didn’t play the 4th.
Karl-Anthony Towns dominated the scoring at the start of the 3rd quarter, finishing with 17 pts on 5-5 shooting (2-2 from 3), with 12 rebounds in only 25 minutes. Everyone on the Knicks looked great — including Mikal Bridges (7 pts on 3-5 shooting and a +31 in 22 minutes), Mohammed Diawara, Jordan Clarkson, Andre Drummond, James Wiseman, Tyler Kolek (5 assists in 11 minutes), Miles McBride — you name the Knick player, they looked good.
Tre Jones led Chicago with 14 pts off the bench. Norm Powell and Matasa Buzelis had 12 pts each.
“When you have it going, it feels good,” said Brunson afterwards. “Just trying to play off that and use your gravity to make plays.”
“Tonight was our best game in terms of seeing our pop and our quickness from point A to point B – especially in the frontcourt,” said coach Mike Brown afterwards. “It was a really good half in terms of doing what we believe what we should be doing offensively as our staples. Everyone was really good in those areas,” Brown added.
“He’s a scorer — he’s not just a shooter,” said coach Brown about Knecht. “A lot of people think he’s a shooter because he’s white. I said it for you, I hope I don’t get in trouble. He can go get it.”
NY improves to 4-4; Chicago falls to 1-7.
1. Brunson Shoots LIGHTS OUT in 1st Quarter
Jalen Brunson‘s shot had not been falling so far this year — but he shed the rust in this game. He came out hitting from everywhere, drives, floaters, 3’s — all within the flow of a Knick team that was spraying the ball and hitting 3’s from everywhere as NY raced out to a 43-21 lead at the end of 1 quarter.
It was 6-5 Chicago to start the game when the Knicks got in gear and blew them off the court with a 38-13 run. Brunson was scoring from everywhere and then Mohammed Diawara hit a 3, Clarkson scored a deuce, OG hit a 3, Clarkson hit a 3, KAT scored inside, Brunson hit another 3 and the Knicks were high rolling.
Jalen Brunson dropped 33 POINTS in 3 QUARTERS.
🗽 10-17 FGM
🗽 5-10 3PM
🗽 28 MIN
🗽 KNICKS W https://t.co/j3fTt03X6c— NBA (@NBA) November 5, 2026
2. OG Takes the Scoring Baton in 2nd
As the 2nd quarter started, OG Anunoby led the attack with drives to the basket that he kept getting fouled on. With 9 minutes left in the 2nd quarter OG already was 10-10 from the free throw line.
what a shot from OG ANUNOBY 😤 https://t.co/5QfU8L7W6e
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 5, 2026
Mikal Bridges was slicing and dicing — hitting a deuce and a 3. Mohammed Diawara — on the court with Bridges — was playing great. Tyler Kolek was orchestrating — feeding Clarkson for a score underneath, feeding Bridges for a deuce, feeding Shamet for a 3 — Kolek didn’t take any shots in the game but had 5 assists in 11 minutes, as NY built their lead into 33 pts.
kolek ➡️ clarkson https://t.co/itAyFQ5lCm
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 5, 2026
3. Knicks’ Knecht Has the Knack
And then Dalton Knecht came out and started BALLING. Knecht was picked up by the Knicks 2 weeks ago after the Lakers released him on October 19, and had been playing on the Westchester Knicks in the G League. He was called up and played in this game with Josh Hart out with a sore ankle.
Knecht had the knack — he looked like the guy who tore up the NBA at the start of his rookie season in LA. Hitting 3’s, running the court with confidence and aggression, dunking on the break, hitting J’s off the bounce — looking like a quick, dangerous 6’6 scorer’s scorer.
Dalton Knecht (10 PTS, 7 REB, 4-6 FGM) made his Knicks debut in their win vs. Chicago 🗽 https://t.co/CGtDZhyyYS
— NBA (@NBA) November 5, 2026
He got a dunk and hit a 3 at the end of the 2nd quarter and would continue that play in the 4th — finishing with 10 pts on 4-6 shooting (2-4 from 3) with 7 rebounds, a block, and an assist.
4. KAT Takes Over at Start of 3rd
And then Karl-Anthony Towns took over at start of the 3rd. He only had 5 pts at the half, but went to work to start the period with consecutive 3’s, one of 2 free throws off a drive, another drive, another free throw off a drive, and another drive as NY built its lead to 39 pts at 101-62.
back-to-back for the big man 💪 https://t.co/lYtxyWHSqB
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) November 5, 2026
5. Knicks Go Up by 40+ in 3rd — Starters Leave
KAT was also ripping down rebounds. He left with 5:39 left in the 3rd and never came back in as the Knicks were ROMPING.
6. Diawara, Knecht & Reserves Continue Blowout in 4th
The Knicks reserves cruised in the 4th quarter — with Kolek leading the point; Knecht looking great from everywhere;, Mohammed Diawara blocking shots, looking good on D, and scoring; Andre Drummond grabbing rebounds inside; and James Wiseman blocking 3 shots and scoring a couple of buckets inside as NY maintained a 30+ point lead throughout the quarter for the old ballgame.
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