Even though he's yet to even played 100 regular season games yet with the New York Knicks, you routinely get the feeling watching Jalen Brunson that he's well on his way to becoming a New York City basketball icon. There's a connection between Brunson and the Madison Square Garden crowd that feels tangible somehow, and if Brunson continues to rack up games like he had last night against the Phoenix Suns, there won't be any debate about his status in the Big Apple.
Against the almost full-strength Phoenix Suns — Bradley Beal played only 4 minutes and change before leaving the game with a right ankle sprain — Jalen Brunson dropped a career-high 50 points in a 139-122 win. Now sure, 50 points is rightfully the headline here, but the efficiency with which Brunson got those 50 points is the most impressive part of the performance. On 17-for-23 shooting from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from downtown, Brunson became the 9th New York Knicks player to top the 50-point mark, the first to do so since teammate Julius Randle dropped 57 points in a loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves last March.
And hey, speaking of Julius Randle, go-ahead and give Randle the Assist Of The Game honor for making sure Jalen Brunson would get the game ball following the Knicks win.
After seeing what happened following Giannis Antetokounmpo's 64-point explosion versus the Indiana Pacers, you can't fault Julius Randle for going out of his way to ensure that there wouldn't be any post-game tomfoolery regarding possession of the game ball.
It's just a shame that a performance this brilliant didn't take place in New York, because the crowd at Madison Square Garden would've been in rapture by the time Brunson hit the 50-point mark. Plus, if any Suns player had tried to snag the game ball away from Brunson, I'm confident that we would've seen a small parade of New Yorkers following the Suns into the tunnel to make sure that Brunson got his ball.