Jalen Brunson’s 55 points propel New York Knicks to overtime win over Washington Wizards

LOS ANGELES – Jalen Brunson delivered a 55-point masterpiece as the New York Knicks rallied from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit and feeling “a little slow” to beat the Washington Wizards 136-132 in overtime on Dec 28.

Brunson scored 42 of his points in the second half and overtime to help the Knicks fend off the lowly Wizards for a seventh straight National Basketball Association (NBA) victory.

It was his third 50-point game as a Knick, and New York needed all of his output against a Washington team playing at home without Kyle Kuzma and their leading scorer Jordan Poole.

Josh Hart, 29, explained the Knicks’ sluggishness early on, telling The New York Post: “We were playing the second night of a back-to-back (after beating the Orlando Magic 108-85). I felt a little old today.

“A lot of us felt the same way. We were a little slow. But (Brunson) made big shots. That’s why he’s the captain. Find a way to win.”

Justin Champagnie put up a career-high 31 points for the Wizards, who led by as many as 11 in the third quarter and took an eight-point lead into the fourth.

They pushed their lead to 100-90 early in the final period and after a pair of lead changes, the Wizards were up 119-114 with 67 seconds remaining.

Brunson converted a three-point play, then tied it at 119-119 with another driving basket and they went to overtime, when Brunson and Hart each drilled a pair of clutch free throws to close it out.

“We were a step behind until the fourth,” Brunson said. “(We) found a way to turn it up and came out with the win.”

The guard connected on 18 of 31 shots from the floor and made three of the Knicks’ 10 three-pointers.

“I read the game, and then I find a way to impact it,” he said. “Tonight it was scoring.”

He was particularly pleased to hit 16 of his 17 free throws – including making five of six from the line in overtime.

“It’s great, knowing I haven’t made a bunch of free throws this year, I’ve been terrible,” he said. “But I made it when it was needed.”

Elsewhere in the league, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points and Jalen Williams added 20 for the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder in a comfortable 106-94 victory over the Hornets in Charlotte.

It was their 10th straight regular-season win – a run broken up by a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Cup final, which did not count towards the season records.

In Chicago, Josh Giddey had 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Bulls to a 116-111 win over the Bucks, who were without ailing star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Nikola Vucevic added 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls.

Damian Lillard, who like Antetokounmpo had been listed as questionable for the game because of illness, scored 29 points and handed out 12 assists for the Bucks.

LeBron James was also sidelined by illness, but the Los Angeles Lakers, fuelled by 36 points from Anthony Davis, beat the Sacramento Kings 132-122.

Davis added 15 rebounds and eight assists while teammate Austin Reaves finished with 26 points and 16 assists.

Reaves was quoted by ESPN as saying: “It’s never fun to not have Bron. He creates so much chaos and security for us.

“But it’s just a collective group. Everybody knows that they got to step up and do something too for us to be successful.”

De’Aaron Fox scored 29 points and handed out 12 assists for the Kings, who were playing their first game since coach Mike Brown was sacked.

Doug Christie, promoted to the interim coach job, presided over their sixth straight defeat.

In San Francisco, Jonathan Kuminga matched his career high with 34 points and drilled three free throws in the final 29 seconds to help the Golden State Warriors hold off the Phoenix Suns 109-105.

In Denver, Nikola Jokic scored 37 points and Jamal Murray added 34 for the Nuggets, who withstood Detroit’s fourth-quarter surge for a 134-121 victory over the Pistons.

Meanwhile, Shaedon Sharpe had 23 points to lead six Portland Trail Blazers players who scored in double figures in a 126-122 home victory over the Dallas Mavericks. AFP