New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, center, passes away from Denver Nuggets’ Christian Braun, left, and Julian Strawther during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson had 30 points and 15 assists, OG Anunoby scored 23 points and the New York Knicks beat the Denver Nuggets 122-112 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight victory.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for New York. The Knicks who had a strong start aided by Nikola Jokic’s early foul trouble, then used a late spurt to pull away for good.
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Jamal Murray scored 33 points for the Nuggets, who fell to 0-3 on their five-game trip. Jokic finished with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 14 rebounds.
READ: NBA: Knicks roll over Grizzlies for biggest win of season
Brunson goes off for 30 points & 15 assists as the @nyknicks keep it rolling!
🗽 5 straight wins
🗽 32-16 record
🗽 408 points over last 3 games: most in franchise history pic.twitter.com/TD8jHSRHTQ— NBA (@NBA) January 30, 2025
Jokic picked up two fouls in the first 1 1/2 minutes and went to the bench just over two minutes into the game after Anunoby blew by him to start a 15-0 run that gave the Knicks an 18-6 lead. Jokic didn’t return until 7:14 remained in the first half and the NBA leader with 21 triple-doubles didn’t reach double figures in any category until the fourth quarter.
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Takeaways
Nuggets: Denver has given up 133, 129 and now 122 points to start the road trip, and it’s hard to win anywhere with that kind of defense.
Knicks: New York had reached 140 points in consecutive games for the first time since 1965-66. The Knicks weren’t quite as good Wednesday, but 122 points and nearly 52% shooting will win plenty of games.
READ: NBA: Balanced Knicks whip Kings
Key moment
Jokic and Aaron Gordon made consecutive 3-pointers to get Denver within four with about 5 1/2 minutes left, but the Knicks got eight of the next 10 points to reopen a double-digit lead.
Key stat
New York pushed the ball at every opportunity, finishing with 25 fast-break points and 23 off turnovers.
Up next
The Nuggets visit Philadelphia on Friday night. The Knicks host the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
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