Jalen Brunson established career highs of 50 points and nine 3-pointers while leading the New York Knicks to a 139-122 victory over the host Phoenix Suns on Friday night.
Brunson scored 35 points in the second half and made all 12 of his shots, including eight from behind the arc. He was 17-of-23 shooting overall, didn’t miss a single 3-point shot and had nine assists as the Knicks won for just the second time in the past five games.
Brunson matched the NBA record for most 3-pointers without a miss, shared by Ben Gordon (2006, 2012) and Latrell Sprewell (2003). Sprewell set the NBA mark of nine without a miss when he was a member of the Knicks in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 4, 2003. Gordon twice tied the record — first as a member of the Chicago Bulls against the Washington Wizards on April 14, 2006 and again with the Detroit Pistons in a contest against the Denver Nuggets on March 21, 2012.
Julius Randle scored 23 points and RJ Barrett added 21 for New York. Immanuel Quickley had 10 points for the Knicks, who outscored Phoenix 42-23 in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Durant scored 29 points and Devin Booker added 28 for Phoenix, which lost for the sixth time in eight games. Jusuf Nurkic had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Grayson Allen scored 13 for the Suns.
Phoenix’s Bradley Beal exited with 7:28 left in the first quarter after injuring his right ankle. The setback came in the second game that the ‘Big Three’ of Booker, Durant and Beal were playing in the same contest. Beal scored six points before his departure.
The Knicks shot 59.8 percent from the field, including a sizzling 17 of 29 from 3-point range.
The Suns connected on 52.2 percent of their attempts and made 11 of 28 from behind the arc.
New York scored 19 of the first 26 points in the final stanza to turn a two-point deficit after three quarters into a 116-106 advantage with 7:23 left.
Phoenix moved within nine with 5:47 left before Brunson scored the next nine points. He made back-to-back treys, including one that took a couple bounces on the rim and hit the glass before dropping in to make it 129-111 with 4:48 remaining.
Brunson reached 50 with a 3-pointer with 1:46 remaining as the Knicks finished off the game in which they set a season high for points.
Durant scored 17 first-half points as Phoenix led 68-63 at the break. Brunson had 15 in the half for the Knicks.
Phoenix increased its lead to 90-80 on a 3-pointer by Jordan Goodwin with 5:05 remaining in the third quarter.
But Brunson was in the midst of a 19-point quarter in which he was 7 of 7 from the field, including five 3-pointers, to help New York pull within 99-97 entering the final stanza.
–Field Level Media
