Knicks’ Jalen Brunson Joins Carmelo Anthony and Bernard King’s Elite Company After 40-point Masterclass vs Bucks

New York Knicks is the fourth team capitalizing on the Milwaukee Bucks‘ broken chemistry. The Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo-led team sat 11 points ahead of NY at the half. However, a Jalen Brunson masterclass handed them another disappointing loss. He erupted for 43 points on 16-32 shooting, to help the Knicks convert a 122-109 win. Brunson’s back-to-back 40-point games during mid-April put him in the light of Knicks’ greats, and the point guard yet again finds himself in a similar conversation.

The Bucks game marks Jalen Brunson’s ninth 40-point game this season, breaking a record held by Bernard King and Carmelo Anthony. With that, Brunson enters the coveted Top-3 spot amongst the NY players with the most 40-point eruptions within a season! He eclipses Bernard’s 1983-84 NBA season and Carmelo’s 2012-13 tenure.

King’s 40-point games came with a 64.2% efficiency while garnering 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists within the dominant games. Melo’s similar stints came off a 58.5% shooting (56.5% from three) alongside 6.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest. For Brunson, the 9 games see a 54.6% shooting touch (44.9% from three) with evened out 5 rebounds and 5.6 assists.

Amid all of this, it is important to remember that Brunson is still behind King and Patrick Ewing for topping the season record.

King has 13 such games from the 1984-85 season, while Ewing has 11 from the 1989-90 campaign. With the Knicks’ 4 remaining games in the season, Brunson has a chance to share the throne with Bernard. However, with the team’s focus currently on the mountain of a deep playoff run, Brunson’s climb in the category might have to wait for the coming season.

Jalen Brunson is ending the season on a tear

With Julius Randle’s season-ending surgery leaving the leadership role scattered, Jalen Brunson has picked up their slack in offense. Ever since the Knicks reached the last 10 games of their season, Brunson has marked three 30-point games alongside a 40-pointer and a career-high 61-point outings. With that, he is averaging 37.3 points, 8.8 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in the last 6 games.

Moreover, with his pace, he is already at pace to overshadow Bernard and Melo’s season-ending run. Bernard ended his 1983 season with five 40-point games, averaging 33.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in the last 10 regulation games. Moreover, he helped the Knicks to the Conference semi-finals.

Moreover, Melo managed to touch the 30-point mark a couple of times behind a decent 27.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists. With that, he gave the classic Knicks vs Boston Celtics playoff series, helping his team into the East semifinals.

Now, as Brunson continues to post similar performances, can the 6’2 guard outshine the greats by helping the franchise witness its first-ever conference finals in the last 24 years?

Last year’s playoff exit saw Jalen Brunson shouldering the entire Knicks’ squad against the Miami Heat. This time around, the Knicks are a better unit. Moreover, they have already won the season series over Miami with a 2-1 record. Regardless, with tensions around the void left by Julius Randle, can Brunson become the Knicks leader they have been missing all these decades?

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