Brunson Has 30 Points And 15 Assists As Knicks Beat Slumping Nuggets 122-112 For 5th Straight Win

NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson had 30 points and 15 assists, OG Anunoby scored 23 points and the New York Knicks beat the Denver Nuggets 122-112 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight victory.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for New York. The Knicks who had a strong start aided by Nikola Jokic’s early foul trouble, then used a late spurt to pull away for good.

Jamal Murray scored 33 points for the Nuggets, who fell to 0-3 on their five-game trip. Jokic finished with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Jokic picked up two fouls in the first 1 1/2 minutes and went to the bench just over two minutes into the game after Anunoby blew by him to start a 15-0 run that gave the Knicks an 18-6 lead. Jokic didn’t return until 7:14 remained in the first half and the NBA leader with 21 triple-doubles didn’t reach double figures in any category until the fourth quarter.

Takeaways

Brunson has 30 points and 15 assists as Knicks beat slumping Nuggets 122-112 for 5th straight win | iNFOnews.ca — New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson (11) drives past Denver Nuggets’ Russell Westbrook (4) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Nuggets: Denver has given up 133, 129 and now 122 points to start the road trip, and it’s hard to win anywhere with that kind of defense.

Knicks: New York had reached 140 points in consecutive games for the first time since 1965-66. The Knicks weren’t quite as good Wednesday, but 122 points and nearly 52% shooting will win plenty of games.

Key moment

Jokic and Aaron Gordon made consecutive 3-pointers to get Denver within four with about 5 1/2 minutes left, but the Knicks got eight of the next 10 points to reopen a double-digit lead.

Key stat