There are wins that look clean on the scoreboard and wins that tell you something about a team’s edge. This was the second kind. The Knicks came into Chicago tired, late and coming off a hard-fought Tuesday night game against the Pistons in MSG, yet they still found a way to erase a 19-point third-quarter deficit and beat the Bulls 133-127 on Wednesday.
The central reason was Jalen Brunson, who scored 38 points and kept finding answers when the game threatened to get away. He had been struggling before this one, including four 3-pointers on 20 attempts across the previous four games, but this was the night the shot came back. Brunson hit six 3-pointers on 10 attempts, finished with 38 points and helped turn what had looked like a flat back-to-back into the Knicks’ second straight victory.
Brunson found his rhythm when the Knicks needed it most
Brunson’s numbers tell the story, but the timing tells it better. He was productive early enough to keep New York close, then decisive enough in the fourth quarter to drag the Knicks through the finish line. The Bulls had control for long stretches, but they could not hold it once Brunson started creating the kind of shots that had been missing during his recent dip.
He said he had been “putting a lot of unnecessary commentary” in his head, and that getting the ball to go in helped him get back into a better flow state. That fits what happened on the floor. Once the jumper started falling, the game changed from a grind into a chase the Bulls could not quite complete.
Late-night fatigue was real, but it was not an excuse
Mike Brown made clear that the schedule was part of the reality, not a cover for the performance. The Knicks got to Chicago around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday after the late game against Detroit, and Brown admitted the team looked “really, really sluggish.” Still, he said that was simply “the life of the NBA,” and the group had to find a way through it.
That is what makes the comeback more meaningful. New York was not at its sharpest, and the numbers suggested as much, but the Knicks still outlasted the moment. They were 2-3 after the win, which is hardly the kind of record that invites celebration, but it does show a team capable of rescuing games that should have slipped away.
What the result says about the Knicks
The bigger takeaway is that this was not a one-man story, even if Brunson was the headline. The Knicks needed a stabilizing performance because the margin for error was thin on a back-to-back, and they got it from their best closer. Brown called Brunson’s will “unbelievable” and even described him as “an MVP-caliber basketball player,” which is strong praise but not empty praise after a night like this.
For the Knicks, the lesson is simple: when the legs are heavy and the margin disappears, Brunson can still tilt the game. That does not solve every concern, especially over a long season, but it is exactly the kind of trait that keeps a team from wasting nights it has no business winning.
