It wasn’t pretty, but the New York Knicks pulled out their first win of the season on Tuesday, 111-97 over the Detroit Pistons.
Few would have predicted a win for the blue and orange at halftime. Particularly with Jalen Brunson struggling yet again.
New York’s captain scored just nine points on one-of-nine shooting. A slow start to his season seemed to be continuing. Then came the second half.
And with it, the kind of late-game shooting and scoring we’ve known Brunson for.
Detroit was making a run in the fourth. Well, the Pistons’ bench unit rather.
With four minutes left, the once 27-point lead had shrunk to 13. In comes Brunson, stage right, dribbling the ball with journeyman Taurean Prince in his face.
A little cross, nine dribbles, and not even 10 seconds later the ball was up and in the basket to insulate the Knicks’ lead.
Prince is no world beater on defense, and New York’s lead shouldn’t have been in jeopardy against Detroit’s second unit; but this was a good reminder of who Brunson is, regardless of how the season’s started.
He finished with 23 points on five-of-18 shooting. But on a night where the Pistons insisted on fouling Brunson possession after possession, it’s his endurance that should shine through the stat sheet.
And boy were they fouling. Brunson shot 16 free throws on Tuesday. 16!
He hasn’t made as many visits to the charity stripe in a regular season game since a February 2025 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. He only went to the foul line 15 times in his Game 5 masterclass to win last season’s championship.
Top marks for Brunson in this one, who seems to be finding his footing.
New York will look to make it back-to-back games in the win column on Wednesday night in a meeting with the Chicago Bulls. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 pm EST.
