Questions over Taylor Swift’s fandom of the New York Knicks — does she genuinely like them? — and Jalen Brunson’s television acting debut have overshadowed the Knicks’ on-court activities in recent days.
That will change Saturday night when the reigning NBA champion Knicks visit the Cleveland Cavaliers. It is New York’s first trip to Cleveland since sweeping the Cavaliers in the 2026 Eastern Conference finals.
Brunson, who was named MVP of the conference finals and NBA Finals, is averaging 25.6 points and 5.1 assists per game this season after unofficially being crowned the king of New York following the Knicks’ championship.
The 30-year-old point guard — who made his acting debut this week as a detective in the show “Law & Order, Special Victims Unit” — is playing an average of a team-high 34.1 minutes a game, a pace that is more than coach Mike Brown would prefer eight games into the season. But Brown said the advanced metrics show Brunson could log even more time and be as effective.
“Our analytics guys track how guys play in two-minute increments, their 3-point field-goal percentage, if they’re slowing down and other things,” Brown said. “Jalen’s just seems to go up every two minutes, and there is really no time it goes down.
“Can he play 12 straight minutes? Yes. Can he play 36-38 (a game)? Yes. But at the end of the day, it’s going to impact him come playoff time, so I have to be conscious of not going to the well too much.”
Brunson scored 22 of his game-high 33 points in the first quarter Wednesday as New York crushed the visiting Chicago Bulls 135-105. The Knicks scored a franchise-record-tying 84 points in the first half to build a 32-point lead, led by their captain.
For the season, Brunson is shooting a career-low 41.4% from the field, but making 5 of 10 shots from 3-point range against the Bulls put him in a better mood.
“When you have it going, it feels good,” he said. “It’s about just trying to play off of that and use your gravity to make plays.”
Knicks forward Josh Hart (right ankle) will miss his second straight game, while Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (right knee bruise) remains out after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Thunder guard Jared McCain on Wednesday in Oklahoma City.
Cleveland also doesn’t expect to have small forward Jaylon Tyson (right ankle sprain) or swingman Sam Merrill (right elbow) in uniform Saturday as it completes a back-to-back set.
The Cavaliers are flying high after crushing the East-leading Philadelphia 76ers 119-95 in an NBA Cup game on Friday, spoiling the latest homecoming of LeBron James. Donovan Mitchell had his best night of the fall with 23 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
James, an Akron, Ohio native, was limited to eight points and made six turnovers in 32 minutes — the 10th time in his 1,630 career regular-season games he failed to reach double figures.
“He’s a hell of a player, but the biggest thing is just making it tough,” Mitchell said. “He had six turnovers, so you give credit to where it’s due with our defense as a whole.
“We got one (win). Now let’s get some rest and get another one tomorrow.”
Like fellow All-Star Brunson, Mitchell hasn’t been his best thus far. His scoring average of 22.6 is his lowest in nine years, but he leads the Cavaliers in steals at 1.22 and is second in assists with 5.8.
Face of the franchise Mitchell understands that must change, which is why he came out firing with six points in first 80 seconds against Philadelphia. Back-to-back losses to the Thunder left the club with a sense of urgency.
“It was just the response to the last two games,” Mitchell said. “My biggest thing was just trying to be aggressive and attacking the hoop. But it’s not just scoring, right, it’s about setting up by teammates and doing whatever else we need to win.”
