Jalen Brunson leads Knicks past struggling Wizards

Field Level Media|published: Fri 17th November, 21:56 2023

Nov 17, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija (8) defends in the first quarter at Capital One Arena. credits: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 32 points Friday night for the visiting New York Knicks, who never trailed in a 120-99 win over the Washington Wizards in a Group B game of the NBA's in-season tournament.

Brunson added seven rebounds and seven assists as the Knicks improved to 1-1 in East Group B play and won for the fifth time in their last six games dating back to Nov. 6.

Immanuel Quickley came off the bench to score 27 points, including 17 in a fourth quarter in which the Knicks outscored the Wizards 31-15. Julius Randle had 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds while Donte DiVincenzo finished with 14 points as New York won despite the absence of starters RJ Barrett (migraine) and Quentin Grimes (left wrist).

Kyle Kuzma scored 19 points for the Wizards, who fell to 0-3 in Group B action and have dropped five straight overall. Deni Avdija had 18 points while Tyus Jones (11 points) and Daniel Gafford (10 points) also got into double figures.

Brunson scored six points on a game-opening 16-4 run for the Knicks. The Wizards got within six points twice before Randle finished the quarter with layups on consecutive possessions to extend New York's lead to 35-25.

The Knicks led by at least 10 and as many as 21 in the second before the Wizards began inching back and pulled within 65-54 at the half.

The teams swapped runs in the third. The Wizards opened the half on a 10-4 run to cut the deficit to 69-64 with 8:13 left before the Knicks scored the next nine points. Washington responded with a 20-11 run to end the quarter and again pulled within five points at 89-84 on Avdija's dunk with 6.8 seconds left.

The Wizards got as close as five points twice more early in the fourth before the Knicks went ahead 100-90 by scoring five points over a span of 3:21 in which Washington was 0-for-5 from the field with a pair of turnovers. Jones ended the drought with two free throws, but the hosts missed their next seven shots and New York scored the next 15 points to extend its lead to 115-92 with 1:22 left.

—Field Level Media