Knicks' Jalen Brunson gets big update after injury scare vs. 76ers
Yesterday at 12:40 AM
This season’s NBA Cup began with the New York Knicks defeating the Philadelphia 76ers, who saw Joel Embiid return to the lineup after a prolonged absence. Earlier, the NBA had suspended Embiid for three games after shoving a reporter in the locker room. In the loss, Embiid put up a stinker, with only 13 rebounds and three boards on 2-11 shooting. However, Knicks star Jalen Brunson had an injury scare early in the second half, where he appeared to tweak an ankle and went to the locker room.
You can see the moment of the ankle tweak on this replay shared by ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.
Jalen Brunson went back to the locker room after hurting his ankle on this play.
Hope he's alright pic.twitter.com/Ku4q0chnHa
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 13, 2024
Thankfully, Brunson returned to the game after a few minutes of treatment, ultimately finishing with 18 points on 5-15 shooting.
Knicks get it together
Besides Jalen Brunson’s ankle injury scare, the Knicks finally managed to put together a winning fourth quarter in their first game of the NBA Cup against the 76ers.
In previous games, they suffered several late-game collapses that led to losses. They began the fourth on an 11-0 run, and they never looked back.
Perhaps part of it was coach Tom Thibodeau finally extending the rotation to nine players, including new signing Matt Ryan and the returning Cameron Payne.
In several games prior, Thibs had played his starters over 40+ minutes, leading to exhausted legs that played a primary role in their fourth-quarter woes.
Fielding one of the best starting lineups in the league won’t matter very much if they’re too tired to defend or make shots in the clutch, and fans should thank the coach for finally figuring it out, at least for this game.
For instance, Josh Hart had a triple double of 14 points, ten assists, and 12 rebounds, while OG Anunoby paced the team with 24 points. New acquisition Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in with a double-double of 21 points and 13 boards.
The 76ers’ woes
Likewise, they held the 76ers to 37% shooting and below 100 points, despite their complete Big Three: Paul George, Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse also had comments on the Knicks’ new lineup.
“They were going through Brunson pretty much exclusively in the playoffs last year,” Nurse said via Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “You’re certainly going to get your dose of [Brunson] on Tuesday, but obviously going to get KAT some shots. And they’re doing a pretty good job of spreading it around. Even OG gets his moments and they go through him a little bit, too. They are much more balanced, they’re trying to be more perimeter-oriented. We have to see.”
With the loss, the Sixers have fallen to 2-8, joining the Bucks in the cellar of the Eastern Conference. However, it’s a little early in the season to stick a fork in them, especially in a conference with only two teams above .500 in the Top 10.
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