Knicks Erase 19-Point Deficit as Brunson's 38 Sinks Bulls 133-127

The New York Knicks went into Chicago on the second night of a back-to-back, a spot Posting and Toasting flagged in its game thread, and won anyway. They were down 19 in the second half and beat the Bulls 133-127 on Wednesday night. Jalen Brunson scored 38 points with seven assists. New York has now won two straight after an 0-3 start and sits at 2-3.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 13 rebounds, according to the Associated Press recap carried by CBS Chicago. OG Anunoby added 23, Jordan Clarkson 18 and Landry Shamet 14. The bench scoring made up for a defense that gave Chicago a lot of open looks. The Bulls went 18 of 42 from three, and Norman Powell scored 30 on 10-of-15 shooting.

The first half went badly. Tre Jones hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to send Chicago into the break up 62-56, and the Bulls kept pulling away after halftime. New York outscored Chicago 43-31 in the fourth quarter, per the ESPN box score. A 10-2 run took control of the game. Clarkson started it with a turnaround jumper, and a Brunson basket made it 124-114 with 3:45 left. Chicago cut the lead to 130-127 with 46 seconds to go, but Powell missed a three that would have tied it. Brunson and Anunoby then hit three free throws between them to close it out.

The Knicks also had two injury scares. Towns appeared to hurt his left wrist in a first-half collision with Noa Essengue, and Shamet twisted his right ankle after a dunk. Both went to the locker room and came back to finish the game. Neither outlet reported an update after the game, so their status for Friday is the main thing to watch over the next two days.

What it means for Friday at Philadelphia

The Knicks get a day off before they visit the 76ers on Friday night on Prime Video. That makes it a rematch of the opener, which New York lost 106-100 at home. Philadelphia comes in at 4-1 after Tyrese Maxey led a fourth-quarter comeback over Indiana, as CBS reported. The Sixers are one of the three teams that beat the Knicks during their losing start. Orlando, 111-102 at the Garden, and Boston, 107-103 on the road, were the others.

The last two games show an offense that has found its footing. New York scored 100, 103 and 102 points in its three losses, then 111 against Detroit and 133 in Chicago. Brunson is driving most of it, and Clarkson and Shamet are giving him real help off the bench. The defense is still a concern. Chicago came in at 1-3, scored 127 and got whatever it wanted from deep for most of the night. Philadelphia's guards will test that defense far more than the Bulls did, and the Knicks will need Towns at full strength on the glass. A win would bring New York back to .500 and split the season series with the Sixers at a game apiece. A loss would leave the Knicks three games behind one of the East's hottest starts before November.