The Miami Heat became the first team to hold Karl-Anthony Towns to fewer than eight points since the center joined the New York Knicks in the fall of 2024.
But it didn’t matter because the Knicks had Jalen Brunson.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra offered high praise of the Knicks captain after Brunson dropped 47 points on the Heat in a 132-125 win Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
It was Brunson’s fourth-highest-scoring game in a Knicks uniform and his most since his 55-point game in New York’s overtime win against the Washington Wizards on Dec. 28, 2024. It also marked Brunson’s most points scored at MSG and boosted New York to 14-2 at home this year.
Erik Spoelstra: Jalen Brunson Is ‘An Incredible Competitor’
The Knicks boast a 107-60 regular-season record in games Brunson plays and are 18-7 this year with him in the lineup. According to Spoelstra, it’s no surprise why.
“He is an incredible competitor,” Spoelstra said Sunday. “If you want to beat a great competitor, you have to [go] above and beyond. It’s possible, but you can’t just play well and you can’t just compete well; you can’t just be there. You got to put him away.”
Spoelstra saw Brunson put his stamp on the Knicks’ 20th win of the season, first by scoring 27 first-half points — including a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer.
When the Heat crept back into contention in the third and fourth quarters, Brunson seemed to have an answer. After they cut the Knicks’ lead to six, 117-111, Brunson beat the shot clock with a fall-away 3-pointer that pushed the edge back to nine.
When Miami got within two points, while holding Towns to only his fourth single-digit scoring output in a Knicks uniform, Brunson knocked down five free throws in the final two minutes — including three on a flagrant foul — while going 11 for 11 at the stripe for the game.
“You’ve got to put him away,” Spoelstra said. “You’ve got to put possessions away, and he’s going to put his imprint on [the game]. That’s what great players do. He has a great knack for it. He’s relentless.”
The Knicks Found A Way To Win When KAT Didn’t Score
Towns seemed frustrated by officiating all night, even picking up a rare technical foul. But he wasn’t mad at the fact the Knicks found a way to win in a game where he went for just two points and five rebounds.
“This is awesome to be able to win a game like this,” Towns said postgame. “I feel what’s great about our team is that we’re showing how we got so many different ways to win, and I think that’s going to prove well for us in the playoffs.”
The Knicks are battle tested after making the playoffs in each of Brunson’s first two seasons in New York — including their run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025. They, of course, claimed a hard-fought win against the up-and-coming San Antonio Spurs to claim the NBA Cup last week in a playoff-like atmosphere at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Yet, perhaps more importantly, is the fact they have Brunson on their side, who coach Mike Brown called “a problem” for opponents and who Towns praised as well.
“He’s a special player. I think we all know that,” Towns said of Brunson. “It doesn’t surprise you when he has nights like [Sunday].”
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