How quickly Jalen Brunson has been moving up career Knicks leaderboards is truly remarkable. Just in his third season with New York, Brunson has already become an all-time great in franchise history. A strong finish in Wednesday’s game gave him 34 points in the outing. In just 202 regular season games with the team, Brunson has already totaled 73 games of at least 30 points.
Jalen Brunson Continues To Move Up Knicks All-Time Leaderboard
Brunson Records 73rd Game Of At Least 30 Points With Knicks
After two subpar efforts by New York against the best of the league, the Knicks were able to rebound with a 110-105 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. The win improved New York’s record to 38-20, which is the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.
While it was nice to win, the Knicks allowed a down-and-out 76ers team to comeback and take the lead late in the game. As is often the case though, Brunson came up huge at the end of the game, coming up with clutch baskets to help secure the win. The 28-year-old finished the outing with 34 points on 8-17 shooting (3-5 from three-point range), and he also went 15-16 from the foul line.
As mentioned, that was Brunson’s 73rd performance of at least 30 points while donning a Knicks jersey. The two-time All-Star is now fourth in franchise history in 30+ point games.
Wednesday’s performance helped him pass Bernard King on the team’s leaderboard. The Basketball Hall of Famer is one of the great scorers in Knicks history. In 1984-85, King won the scoring title averaging 32.9 points per contest. That is the highest single-season scoring average in Knicks history.
Will Likely Move Into Third All-Time Next Season
Wednesday was Brunson’s 17th game of at least 30 points in the 57 games he has appeared in this season. It will be hard for him to move into the top-three of the 30+ point leaderboard for the Knicks this year, but it should definitely occur by next season.
In third place in franchise history is Richie Guerin. During his Knicks tenure, Guerin had 87 contests with the team where he scored at least 30 points. In 1961-62, he averaged 29.5 per game, the second-highest single season mark in franchise history.
Coming in at second all-time is Carmelo Anthony. He totaled 108 games of at least 30 points with New York. He won a scoring title with the team in 2012-13.
Nobody would be surprised to see Brunson pass either of those two on the all-time list. What would be surprising is if he would eventually be atop it. The player with the most 30+ point games in Knicks history (as well as holder of numerous other franchise records) is Patrick Ewing. New York’s all-time leading scorer finished his Knicks career with 203 outings of at least 30 points.
During the offseason, Brunson signed what was seen as a team-friendly extension and is now signed with the team through at least 2027-28. The 6-foot-2 point guard has a player option for 2028-29. There are many more high-scoring games in store for Jalen Brunson as a member of the New York Knicks.
Photo credit: © Brad Penner-Imagn Images
