Jalen Brunson prevailed over Karl-Anthony Towns as the Cap faced the KAT at the NBA All-Star Game at Intuite Dome.
A New York Knicks civil war ended in the Captain’s favor: part three of the four-legged NBA All-Star Game in Inglewood, CA, saw Brunson’s Stripes team, one of the two squads composed of American-born players, top a grouping of international talents, led by Towns, by a 48-45 final.
While all participants took a back seat to a 31-point breakout from local star Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers), Knicks fans gathered (including a courtside Spike Lee) and watching no doubt appreciated the metropolitan violence that ensued just before the midway mark: Brunson beat Towns for interior penetration and laid up a double.
A swat from Towns wouldn’t let the ball fall through, but the center was called for goaltending, leading to a humorous race back down the floor between the two Knickerbockers. Brunson also hit two three-pointers to stand as a second-leading Stripes scorer at eight, behind the local Leonard’s mastery.
That capped off a successful SoCal weekend for the Knicks: Brunson and Towns previously united with team legend Allan Houston and the former’s father (and Knicks assistant coach) Rick to win the Shooting Stars competition during the All-Star prelude on Saturday.
Unfortunately for Brunson, the momentum did not carry over to the All-American finale against the Stars, another team featuring USA stars: the Stars jumped out to a 12-1 run and never looked back, capping it off with a 47-21 triumph. Brunson hit one three-pointer in defeat, while Anthony Edwards (Minnesota) put up eight for the Stars en route to MVP honors. Edwards had 24 points in his first two showings.
In the latest attempt to spice up its mid-winter classic, the NBA switched to a “USA vs. the World” format, previously used in the National Hockey League’s equivalent. This placed Brunson and Towns on separate teams for the second straight exhibition: Towns was born in New Jersey but leaned into his Dominican heritage to rep the World group.
While time will tell whether the format leads to a resurrection of All-Star competitiveness, the first three showings cleared an admittedly low bar for intensity.
The World needed to defeat the Stripes by three to secure a tiebreaker and advance to the final match. Scorer of 33 between his two games, Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio) nearly forced another overtime, but his would-be equalizer fell short at the buzzer. No one led by more than seven in the clash.
The opener, which saw the Stars beat the World 37-35, saw neither team go up by more than nine and required an extra period that saw the two sides pay to five points. Scottie Barnes (Toronto) reached the goal with a three through Towns, one of two World reps in double figures, scoring 10. His most emphatic tally was a three that created that aforementioned largest lead, his sneakers at the cusp of the midcourt logo as he fired.
The first Stars and Stripes showdown was also a narrow tilt, as Brunson’s Striples prevailed 42-40. Brunson sank his only shot attempt, also a two, in that first game, which saw a recurring Knicks foe, Jaylen Brown (Boston), lead the victors with 11 points.
Brunson and Towns will return to action with the rest of the Knicks on Thursday when they face the conference-leading Detroit Pistons for the final time this regular season (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/Prime Video).
