Rockets Vs Knicks: Brunson's late heroics lift Knicks in 108-106 comeback

The Knicks staged their largest comeback of the season in a 108-106 win, rallying from an 18-point deficit to beat the Rockets in a game that had boos ringing through Madison Square Garden. The comeback in rockets vs knicks hinged on late scoring and defensive stands that flipped momentum in the fourth quarter.

Brunson erupts in the fourth after a rough night

Jalen Brunson, the All-Star point guard who had been struggling through one of his worst offensive showings of the year, turned the game in the fourth. He did not make a shot from the field until 4: 21 left in the third quarter, missing his first five attempts, and he had just two points at halftime free throws. In the fourth, Brunson scored eight points and went 4-for-4 from the field.

His sequence down the stretch began with a jumper that pulled the Knicks within four with 4: 40 left. Two possessions later he drew a charge on Amen Thompson to give the Knicks the ball back, then hit another jumper to cut the margin to two. With 1: 14 remaining he hit a layup to tie it 103-103, took a charge on Kevin Durant, then crossed up Tari Eason and drilled a 15-footer to give New York a two-point lead with 21. 2 seconds left.

Brunson addressed his turnaround directly: "Didn’t like how I was playing. Decided that I had to switch it; that simple. It’s the mentality of trying to get downhill, make plays, not being hesitant, not being passive. If there are mistakes, they’re aggressive mistakes. Don’t want to be on your heels. I just feel like the first two quarters, I was. " Coach Mike Brown added: "Jalen was in a groove. It didn’t matter who was on him; he found a way to score. "

Karl-Anthony Towns challenges teammates and delivers

Karl-Anthony Towns, whose involvement in the offense had been a major talking point during the Knicks’ blowout loss to the Pistons on Thursday, pushed the team before the fourth quarter. Brown credited Towns with challenging his teammates about their defense before the period began.

Towns responded on the court, adding seven points in the fourth and finishing with a game-high 25. He said of the moment: "I said, ‘We can win this game. I’ve seen us do it. It starts with the first possession of the fourth quarter, playing defense. We’ve gotta get a stop, it’s the most important possession of the game, the first play of the fourth quarter. ' I wanted to do my part as well. … I wanted to set the tone for our team and set the intensity level we needed to play for 12 minutes if we expected to come out with a win. "

Turnovers and Alvarado’s defense swing momentum

Defensive pressure produced the turnover margin that made the rally possible. Jose Alvarado had five points and three steals in the key fourth-quarter stretch as the Knicks forced the Rockets into nine fourth-quarter turnovers while committing just one themselves. The Garden crowd, which had begun to boo when New York trailed by 18 at the start of the fourth, saw the tide turn as the Knicks tightened up defensively.

Late-lineup choices and closing details: Anunoby, Shamet and Durant

OG Anunoby paced the Knicks with 16 points in the first half but scored just four in the second half; he nonetheless made two crucial free throws with 5. 4 seconds left to ice the game. Landry Shamet added 14 points off the bench and played key minutes down the stretch, a deployment Brown has made over Mikal Bridges on multiple occasions.

Kyrie-level scorers on the opposition fell quiet as well: Kevin Durant entered the fourth quarter with 25 points but added just five the rest of the way on 2-for-7 shooting from the field. Three of Durant’s fourth-quarter points came on a 3-pointer after Anunoby’s free throws. The sequence and late defensive stands carried the Knicks to a 108-106 victory — their largest comeback of the season. Mike Brown summed it simply: "We found a way. "