Knicks Extend Winning Streak to Nine Without Jalen Brunson: Karl-Anthony Towns’ Historic Performance Leads the Way

Even though New York wasn’t able to count on their leading scorer Jalen Brunson during their Wednesday night clash against Utah, the team was still able to come out with their first win of the year, beating their opponents by an impressive 16-point difference and extending their run to nine-consecutive victories. 

As news of JB spread about his right calf tightness, Deuce McBride was given the opportunity to replace the team’s All-Star guard, but was surprisingly ruled out just before tip off as he also developed left hamstring tightness.

This was the moment in which Cam Payne was told that the responsibility would be his. “Probably like right before they called the lineups,” the player revealed about how he was informed about starting last night. “Halfway thought they weren’t going to call my name. I thought they were going to call Deuce and I was going to have to run out there, honestly. That’s how close it was to the lineups.”

Karl-Anthony Towns over his last 3 games:

31 PTS – 21 REB – 4 AST
32 PTS – 13 REB – 68% FG
30 PTS – 14 REB – 68% FG

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While the Payne only with 8 points during their 119-103 victory over the Jazz, the starting guard was able to contribute with 9 assists. To back him up, coach Tom Thibodeau used rookie Tyler Kolek who came off the bench for 12 minutes of play.

Just this past Saturday, Brunson had produced a season-high 55 points during their win at Washington, but then struggled with his shooting two nights later as they rematched in Manhattan.

Despite the guard’s inconsistency, he continues to be the Knicks’ leading scorer with averages of 25.2 points per match. One thing for sure is that Brunson seems to be improving his stats from last year’s All-Star season. “It just shows a difference between last year and this year,” said teammate Josh Hart. “Last year, him out, not sure how that would have went.”

Karl-Anthony Towns produced a historic display against the Jazz after recording multiple games with 30+ points and 20+ rebounds

It seems like New York have more firepower than they initially thought, despite Jalen’s absence. This is why Karl-Anthony Towns has come to the rescue with his historic performances which have now etched his name in franchise history.

This Wednesday evening, he became only the second player in the last 34 years to record multiple games in a single campaign with 30+ points and 20+ rebounds. The only other Knicks star to achieve this is Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing.

KAT, who is currently averaging 24.9 points and 13.7 rebounds in his first season in Manhattan, led his squad with an impressive 31-point, 21-rebound double-double, which also included four assists, a steal, a block, and three three-pointers in 37 minutes of play.