Knicks, Jalen Brunson’s Bad Luck vs. Mavericks Continues

Like many across the country this week, New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson endured an awkward trip home.

Brunson returned to the scene of his first NBA steps on Wednesday, as the Knicks engaged in the penultimate portion of a five-game road trip against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. While Brunson played as advertised by leading all participants with 37 points (tying his own season-best), the Knicks’ offensive no-show led to a 129-114 defeat.

Even in defeat, Brunson’s presence cast a significant shadow over the proceedings. Mavericks head coach and Brunson’s predecessor in the Knicks’ point guard spot Jason Kidd took special note of what the metropolitan captain has accomplished in this young season, namely his career-best distribution numbers.

“When you look at Brunson’s assists, a career high, [it’s] understanding that he’s not just a scorer, but he can find teammates, too,” Kidd said, per Steve Popper of Newsday. “We’ve seen that when he was here, and we’re seeing that as a Knick, too. And he’s playing the game the right way.”

Nostalgics aside, Wednesday’s loss continue an uncannily macabre trend for the Knicks: while New York (10-8) has no doubt entered an era of prosperity since Brunson left the Mavericks after the 2021-22 season, it has yet to douse Dallas since he flew east, dropping each of the last five get-togethers.

To make make matters more puzzling, Brunson and 2018 Dallas draft classmate Luka Doncic have squared off just once in that span. Doncic sat out of Wednesday’s game due to an injury and was one of several North Texans ailing, a list that also included Daniel Gafford and Klay Thompson.

Brunson concerned himself with only the brutal loss in the present, as New York evened its mark to 2-2 on a rollercoaster five-game road trip. The point guard was one of the few Knicks hitting his shots on Wednesday (14-of-21) but he was distraught at the way his team somewhat folded after going down by as much 24 in the opening half.

“It shouldn’t stop us from being able to lock in and trying to find ways to win the game. It’s a part of basketball,” Brunson said, per Phillip Martinez of SNY. “Sometimes your shot isn’t going to fall but how are you going to respond?”

Knicks fans continue to be thankful for Brunson have a relatively slow start to the season: leading into the brief holiday hiatus, he is averaging 26.2 points and 10.5 assists over his last six games, ranking ninth and third in the league respective over the past dozen days.

Brunson is set to be further relied upon come Black Friday when te Knicks look to continue posting perfect marks in NBA Cup play against the Charlotte Hornets (12 p.m. ET, MSG).

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