New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacts after scoring during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Knicks won 109-105. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
NEW YORK (AP) — Maybe Jalen Brunson was just bothered by the pain in his left eye that had been hit a few minutes earlier.
Or maybe there were just too many emotions on the night he earned his first All-Star nod.
But after scoring 40 points in the New York Knicks’ 109-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night, Brunson couldn’t get the words out when asked on the court what the night meant to him as “MVP! MVP!” chants rained down from around Madison Square Garden.
“It was really cool, the whole experience, the night, how we won, obviously what happened before the game,” Brunson said later. “You always work for certain moments, but you never know how to react once they happen, so it was special.”
Brunson shook off his eye injury to make the go-ahead basket with 1:46 remaining as the Knicks won their ninth straight.
Brunson scored 11 in the fourth quarter to rally the Knicks in a game they trailed by 15 points. They had surged back to take the lead, then fell behind 100-99 when Brunson crashed into Andrew Nembhard in the backcourt, laying on the court and holding his face as Jalen Smith picked the loose ball for an uncontested basket.
But with this left eye appearing swollen, Brunson drove into the lane on the next possession and scored while being fouled,
“You just love his competitiveness and he never goes away,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
Donte DiVincenzo and Precious Achiuwa followed with baskets to make it 105-100.
DiVincenzo scored 20 points and Deuce McBride had 16. Isaiah Hartenstein had 12 points and 19 rebounds, and Achiuwa finished with 12 points and 16 boards for the Knicks, who missed 20 of 24 3-pointers through three quarters but made up for it by outrebounding…
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