Jalen Brunson erupts in second half of Knicks' 104-93 win over Pelicans

The Knicks were able to survive a slow start offensively and ended up beating the New Orleans Pelicans handily, 104-93, on Saturday night for their third straight win.

Here are the takeaways…

-New York got out to the early lead thanks to Jalen Brunson‘s three-pointer to start the game and didn’t give it up for most of the opening quarter. Neither team shot well out of the gates, but things picked up later in the first, including Karl-Anthony Towns and Trey Murphy III trading deep three-pointers that kept it a one-point game.

After another lull in offense, the Pelicans went on a 10-0 run and took their first lead of the night in the process. UConn product Jordan Hawkins‘ three-pointer with 2:59 left in the quarter gave New Orleans a 20-19 advantage which they stretched to 25-19 on another Hawkins triple. The 22-year-old had nine points in the first half on 3-of-5 shooting from downtown.

Brunson ended the Knicks’ scoring drought with a three-ball of his own and New York was able to tie it entering the second quarter after Towns converted on two free throws.

-To begin the second quarter the Pelicans went on another run, this one a 9-0 run that spanned three minutes, to regain the lead they briefly lost. Meanwhile, the Knicks missed their first eight shots of the quarter but they were finally able to get on the board after Cam Payne hit a two-pointer with 8:50 left in the half.

It wasn’t a good shooting quarter for New York, though, who fell behind by as many as 13 points. From there, the Knicks began chipping away, including timely threes by OG Anunoby and Josh Hart. New York ended the half on a 13-4 run (spanning more than six minutes) to get back to within four points.

During that time, the Knicks were awarded a technical free throw after New Orleans’ towel boy was called for a delay of game when trying to wipe off sweat from the court as New York was trying to inbound the ball. Filed under things you don’t see everyday, Brunson made the free throw.

-Both teams struggled offensively going into halftime. Murphy was one of the few offensive bright spots and led all scorers with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field. The rest of the Pelicans’ starters, however, went 4-for-20 from the field and were not much help.

-In the second half, it became the Jalen Brunson show as it has so many times in New York. The point guard began to heat up from deep and scored 16 points in the third quarter — almost half of the Knicks’ 33 points scored. Defensively, the Knicks really clamped down on New Orleans who had no answers for Brunson. Murphy finished with 26 points, Dejounte Murray added 14 and CJ McCollum had 13.

Brunson finished with a season-high 39 points (on 13-of-19 shooting; 7-for-10 from three) and scored 29 of those in the second half. He also dished out six assists.

-All five starters for New York had double-digit points with Towns ending with another double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds). The Knicks’ bench scored six points all night, but Precious Achiuwa recorded seven rebounds (five offensive) in 12 minutes while Jericho Sims hauled in eight boards (four offensive) in 13 minutes.