New York guard Jalen Brunson scored 20 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter to propel the Knicks to a narrow 113-109 NBA victory over the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
After Jordan Poole’s layup pulled the Wizards within one midway through the fourth quarter, Brunson erupted, scoring the Knicks’ next nine points as New York kept the Wizards at bay.
Brunson, who scored 30 points in his return from a two-game injury absence on Wednesday, added eight rebounds and eight assists.
Julius Randle added 21 points for New York and Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby scored 19 apiece to help the Knicks overcome 17 turnovers.
Elsewhere the Chicago Bulls, with 24 points from both Nikola Vucevic and DeMar DeRozan, dominated early and held on late to beat the Raptors 116-110 in Toronto.
Vucevic added 14 rebounds and handed out seven assists, and Colby White chipped in 23 points for the Bulls, who out-scored the Raptors 74-50.
The Bulls attacked aggressively to lead by as many as 14 in the first quarter. They repelled a Raptors run in the second quarter and were up by 13 in the third before Toronto battled back again in a fourth quarter that featured 10 lead changes.
Scottie Barnes led Toronto with 31 points, his finger roll layup with 2:21 remaining putting the Raptors up 109-108 only for White to answer with a jump shot that put the Bulls up for good.
“We knew they’re a team that never gives up, it’s not going to be a pretty game with them,” Vucevic said. “They play very physical and they play a lot of different ways defensively as well. So we just knew we had to stick with it.
“And guys made huge plays at the end, so just a great team effort,” Vucevic said.
