OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns were having bigger nights scoring-wise at the time, but with the game in the balance, the Knicks went to old reliable Jalen Brunson.<\/p>\n
And he delivered a late-game takeover. How often have we seen this script?<\/p>\n
Brunson scored 10 straight Knicks points \u2014 and 15 of their last 18 \u2014 late in the fourth quarter, carrying the Knicks in crunch time en route to a 121-116 win over the Pelicans on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. It marked the Knicks\u2019 seventh straight win \u2014 tying their second-longest win streak of the season.<\/p>\n
Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 21 points, goes up for a shot as Zion Williamson defends during the Knicks\u2019 121-116 win over the Pelicans on March 24, 2026 at the Garden. Jason Szenes for New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cJust trying to be myself,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cStick to my habits, focus on my work ethic, what\u2019s gotten me here. And keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brunson assisted a Josh Hart layup during that stretch as well, meaning he had a hand in 17 of the Knicks\u2019 final 18 points. Brunson finished with a game-high 32 points and seven assists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the position that I know he likes to be in,\u201d Hart said. \u201cWe want him in that position. You learn, when you watch this game and you play this game, the last three or four minutes of a game is winning time. That\u2019s when your players, your superstars, your main guys go out there and show why they\u2019re at that level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also helped that the Knicks hit 11 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter and 20 of 22 overall. <\/p>\n
They also had a 14-2 advantage in second-chance points.<\/p>\n
Jalen Brunson, who scored 32 points, celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer during the first quarter of the Knicks\u2019 win over the Pelicans at the Garden. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n
After entering just a half-game behind the Celtics in the standings for the No. 2 seed in the East, the win creates a virtual tie, though the Knicks\u2019 winning percentage (.658) is a few points lower than the Celtics\u2019 (.662). If the Celtics lose Wednesday to the Thunder, the Knicks would jump ahead of them.<\/p>\n
Coach Mike Brown had warned of the Pelicans\u2019 ability to play fast before the game, and it certainly came to fruition. A fast-paced first half saw the Knicks struggle defensively before they were able to slow it down a bit in the second half.<\/p>\n
Zion Williamson, who torched the Knicks for 32 points the last time the teams met, had 22 points on an efficient 8-for-10 from the field. But he didn\u2019t take over the game. <\/p>\n
Towns and Anunoby spent plenty of time on him, but Anunoby was particularly effective \u2014 he both blocked and stripped him during the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s fitting that seven players scored in double digits for the Knicks\u2019 seventh straight win. Anunoby and Towns each finished with 21 points, though Anunoby only had three in the second half. <\/p>\n
Mitchell Robinson made an impact off the bench with 10 points and eight rebounds \u2014 four of them offensive. <\/p>\n
Mikal Bridges added 14 points \u2014 just three in the second half \u2014 and Hart and Jordan Clarkson each had 10. <\/p>\n
As a whole, the Knicks shot an impressive 51.8 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from 3-point range.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a funky game,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBoth teams offensively were really good, nobody could really get a stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Josh Hart, who scored 10 points and added eight rebounds, drives pass Zion Williamson during the third quarter of the Knicks\u2019 win over the Pelicans at the Garden. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST<\/p>\n
But the balanced scoring attack became a Brunson scoring attack when it mattered most.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat players,\u201d Brown said, \u201cwhen it counts the most, when the pressure is the highest, they make the game easier for everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though they\u2019re pretty low in the standings, the Pelicans are not nearly as sorry as the bottom feeders \u2014 comprised of G-Leaguers \u2014 that the Knicks had largely faced during the first six games of their winning streak. <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Pelicans entered having won five of their prior seven games and Williamson, when healthy and available, is still a top-level talent. And without a first-round pick this year, they have no incentive to tank.<\/p>\n
Trailing by one roughly nine minutes into the game, the Knicks ripped off a 15-0 run to end the first quarter and take a 14-point lead into the second quarter. <\/p>\n
But the Pelicans began the period on an 18-2 run and took the lead. The Knicks then stabilized and by halftime led by six.<\/p>\n
They were outscored by five in the third quarter and took a one-point lead into the fourth. When Brunson checked back in with 7:25 left in the game, as so often happens, it became his show. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns were having bigger nights scoring-wise at the time, but with the game in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4777,21,9137,9,11,1104,10,319],"class_list":["post-174580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-nba","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-new-york-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}