Jalen Brunson dropped 26 points in his return from injury as the Knicks never trailed in their 98-74 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
With the win, the Knicks jumped the Magic for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference standings.
Here are some takeaways...
- Brunson returned from a knee contusion he suffered on Sunday and led the Knicks to a much-needed win. The All-Star guard scored 10 points (4-5 FG) in the first en route to a 26-point performance on 11-of-19 shooting.
It wasn’t always pretty but the Knicks offense was night and day with Brunson on the floor. When Brunson was getting a breather, the Magic went on an 8-1 run to start the second quarter to cut in the Knicks lead. But with Brunson in, they finished the first half on a 9-0 run.
Brunson played 29 minutes.
- After shooting 31 percent (16-52) from three in Tuesday’s loss to the Hawks, shots from distance were falling for New York on Friday. The team shot 6-of-7 from downtown in the first quarter but, of course, the Knicks would miss their next four threes and they, smartly, went away from the three, instead moving the ball and getting to the basket.
Donte DiVincenzo still looked to shoot from beyond the arc when he could. He went 3-for-5 from three, including his 200th three-pointer of the season. In doing so, DiVincenzo became the fourth Knick in franchise history to have 200 threes in a season.
In total, the Knicks shot 49 percent (16-33) from three on Friday.
- Friday's mark was a battle between two of the NBA's best defensive teams. But New York got the better of the younger Magic team. The Knicks allowed just 39 points in the first half, the fewest they've allowed this season.
Precious Achiuwa had four blocks in 17 minutes. In total, the Knicks had eight blocks in the first half. Achiuwa finished with five blocks, a new career high, to go along with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Oh, and he had four assists.
Achiuwa, assigned to guard Paolo Banchero the majority of the time, gave up 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the first half.
Banchero would finish with 23 points on 9-of-20 shooting (45 percent). The second-year forward is averaging 23 points a game on 46 percent shooting.
The Knicks had 10 blocks in total and seven steals. The Magic's 74 points is the lowest point total held by the Knicks since 2012.
- Miles McBride, who played 93 minutes over his last two games to make up for Brunson's absence didn't have to do as much work with the starting guard back. McBride finished with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 19 minutes on the floor.
Interestingly enough, Alec Burks -- one of the Knicks' trade deadline acquisitions -- played just five minutes.
- Josh Hart scored 19 points and played in 42 minutes. It's the eighth straight game Hart has played 40-plus minutes.