New York, New York: Brunson Scores 38 as the Knicks Rally From 19 Down to Beat the Bulls 133-127 in Chicago

Jalen Brunson scored 38 points and the New York Knicks rallied from 19 points down in the second half to beat the Chicago Bulls 133-127 on Wednesday night at the United Center in Chicago. It was a second straight win for New York after an 0-3 start to the season.

Brunson scored 14 of his points in the fourth quarter and finished with seven assists and six 3-pointers, his highest scoring game of the season. He told reporters he had been putting unnecessary commentary in his head during his slow start. "I was happy to be able to kind of finally get over that hump," Brunson said. "Seeing the ball go in the way it did, it put me out of my mental state and put me in a good flow state."

A 19-point hole

Chicago led 62-56 at halftime after Tre Jones hit a half-court shot at the buzzer, and the Bulls pushed the lead out in the third quarter. Norman Powell scored 14 of his 30 points in the period, and his pullup 3-pointer during an 18-3 run put Chicago ahead 87-68 with 4:57 left in the third.

New York answered at once. The Knicks scored 22 of the next 29 points to cut the deficit to four by the closing seconds of the quarter, with OG Anunoby starting the run with a 3-pointer and Tyler Kolek adding two more.

The fourth quarter

The Knicks won the fourth quarter 43-31. Landry Shamet hit a 3-pointer with 6:26 remaining to give New York a 112-109 lead, one it never gave back. A 10-2 run followed, opened by a Jordan Clarkson turnaround jumper, and a Brunson basket made it 124-114 with 3:45 to play.

Chicago still had one push left. A Jalen Smith 3-pointer cut the margin to 130-127 with 46 seconds remaining, and Powell had a chance to tie the game on a late 3-point attempt. He missed, Brunson split a pair of free throws with 6.2 seconds left, and Anunoby made two free throws to close the scoring.

Support on both sides

Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 13 rebounds for New York, Anunoby scored 23, Clarkson had 18 and Shamet finished with 14. Kolek handed out nine assists and Andre Drummond grabbed 11 rebounds for the Knicks.

Seven Bulls scored in double figures. Powell led Chicago with 30 points on 10-for-15 shooting, Caleb Wilson added 20, and Matas Buzelis scored 17 and passed 2,000 points for his career. Smith had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Josh Giddey finished with 10 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Chicago shot 18 for 42 from 3-point range and still lost for the fourth time in five games.

Injury scares and what comes next

Towns and Shamet both left the floor in the first half. Towns appeared to hurt his left wrist in a collision with Bulls forward Noa Essengue, and Shamet twisted his right ankle after a dunk. Both went to the back and both returned to the game.

New York improved to 2-3, one night after beating the Detroit Pistons 111-97 for its first win. The Knicks play at the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. Chicago fell to 1-4 and plays at the Boston Celtics on Friday night.