By the numbers: Jalen Brunson’s 50-point night sets several NBA, Knicks records
Jalen Brunson’s career-high 50-point performance in the Knicks’ 139-122 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday set or tied a number of franchise and league-wide records.
Brunson finished with 50 points, nine assists, six rebounds, five steals and nine made threes on the night. He became the first player in NBA history with such a 50-5-5-5-5 stat line.
“It was a cool feeling. They were more excited than I am,” he said of the celebration he received from his teammates in the locker room after the game. “I’ve got a great group of teammates and was excited we got the win.”
Brunson missed all six of his attempts from downtown in the loss to the Utah Jazz but shot nine-of-nine from downtown against the Suns, tying a longstanding NBA record for most threes made in a game without a miss.
The previous records were held by Latrell Sprewell, who set the record against the Los Angeles Clippers in 2003, Ben Gordon, who tied that record twice with different teams, first in April 2006 with the Chicago Bulls, and again with the Detroit Pistons in March 2012.
“It’s the game of basketball. If the ball doesn’t go in, then it’s that,” he said. “So it’s all about trusting your mechanics, staying confident yourself, and not getting too down on yourself. Just getting ready to go to the next one.
“I missed a free throw, so. I had no idea. Sort of just was playing free. You’ve gotta shoot it the same. You’ve still gotta talk to your teammates, be yourself, I didn’t really realize what was going on.”
Brunson finished Friday’s matchup against the Suns with nine assists, becoming the first player since Michael Jordan to finish a game with 50 points, nine assists, five steals and five rebounds.
He became the first player in Knicks history with 50 points, five assists, five rebounds and five steals in a game and became the first Knick to have 40 points, five assists and five steals in a game since Walt Frazier did it in 1973.
“It means a lot, but I try to focus on continuing to get better,” the star Knicks guard said after the game. “We’ve got a long way to go. This is a good night but we’ve gotta bounce back and get ready for tomorrow.”
Brunson also set an NBA record for the highest field goal percentage ever in a 50-point game.
Brunson shot 17-of-23 from the field against the Suns for a cool 73.9% shooting night.
“We know that they’re an explosive offense, so we had to lock in and we did a good job of sticking together,” he said. “You’ve gotta give them credit.”
After Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo nearly raged into the Indiana Pacers’ locker room in pursuit of his game ball after scoring a career-high 64 points on Thursday, Brunson said Julius Randle secured the game ball for Brunson.
He said he doesn’t have a trophy room and that his father, Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson, keeps all those items for him.
“I don’t have anything like that (in my house),” he said. “It’s cool. I’m just happy we got the win honestly. That’s all I really care about.”
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