Wednesday night marked the New York Knicks most convincing win of the young season, a 135-105 blowout over the Chicago Bulls.

Jalen Brunson went ballistic early. Dalton Knecht shined in his debut. 12 of the 14 Knicks who touched the hardwood scored on a putrid Bulls defense.

And yet, for a game that’s outcome was so quickly decided, it was a historic night–in four different ways, for four different players.

Brunson’s first quarter

New York’s captain hasn’t been himself to start the year. Unless he’s playing Chicago.

Brunson scored 38 in the first meeting between these teams. And he almost did it again on Wednesday, after going off for 22 in the first quarter.

According to the Knicks’ PR account on X, it was a historic first frame:

Brunson finished the game with 33 points, on a night that every record was within reach. Once again, fans will hope an outing against the Bulls will fuel him bak to form.

Knecht for three!

Following the explosion from Brunson in the first quarter, New York closed the half on a three-pointer from Knecht, pushing the team’s point total to 84.

That ties a franchise record for the most points scored in any half.

For an offense that still ranks in the bottom third of the league after last night’s blowout, all reps are good reps. If only we could play Chicago every night…

Clarkson climbs the ladder

It’s been a great week to be Jordan Clarkson:

  • He scored 18 points in 17 minutes as New York pulled off a comeback victory in the first meeting with the Bulls.
  • After his efforts in another comeback win over the Brooklyn Nets, head coach Mike Brown called him the best teammate he’s ever been around.

And on Wednesday, he moved into seventh place on the NBA’s all-time bench scoring list, surpassing Thurl Bailey.

Clarkson now has 8,696 points scored off the bench. He’s 794 away from passing Junior Bridgeman to move into sixth place.

His impact this season is well documented, but Clarkson has been a net rating god amongst men. According to Fadeaway, the Knicks are +45.9 with him on the floor.

Only four bench players in the NBA have a better +/- than Clarkson, according to NBA.com. Year 13 is off to a great start.

A streak for KAT

And then there’s the Knicks’ most consistent player to start the year.

Karl-Anthony Towns has recorded a double-double in every game this season. It’s the longest streak for New York since Charles Oakley in 1989-1990.

He’s averaging 19.9 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists this season.

Amongst active players, only five have more career double-doubles than Towns: LeBron James, Nikola Vucevic, Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, and his Knicks teammate, Andre Drummond, who’s got 502 to Towns’ 486.

On the year, only Domantas Sabonis has more rebounds with 119. But he’s also played almost an entire game’s worth of minutes more with 288 to Towns’ 249.

New York will settle for a quiet, unhistoric night on Saturday, if they can beat the Cleveland Cavaliers and get above .500 for the first time this season.

Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 pm EST.