Two of the NBA’s hottest teams and one of its hottest players match up Tuesday night in Minnesota when the Timberwolves host the New York Knicks.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson is coming off a season high 47-point effort in a 132-125 win Sunday over the Miami Heat. In his last five games, including the Knicks’ NBA Cup championship, Brunson has averaged 31.8 points and is now seventh in the NBA at 29.1 per game.
“Jalen again,” coach Mike Brown said to SNY after Sunday’s win. “We were struggling a little bit offensively … you want to have an MVP of the league on your side. For him to score 47 … He’s capable of doing it and that’s what MVPs are supposed to do on nights like tonight.”
“He’s a special player. I think we know that,” said Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns of Brunson. “And he doesn’t surprise you when he has nights like that.”
New York has won eight of its last nine games and is second in the East. Josh Hart was plugged into the Knicks starting line-up a month ago and the Knicks are 10-2 when he starts.
“He’s a guy that just does everything well. If you’re not careful, you may look at it and say, ‘Well, he can’t really do (this).’ Nah, nah, he does everything well,” Brown said of Hart. “He does a couple things at an elite level, and when you have a guy like that who’s pretty selfless, it can bode well to connecting the group, no matter who he’s on the floor with.”
The Timberwolves have won nine of their last 11 games and are currently fifth in the Western Conference standings. In Sunday’s 103-100 win over Milwaukee, Rudy Gobert had 11 points and 18 rebounds, becoming the 45th NBA player in history with 10,000 career boards.
“Elite bigs can play the cover, get a contest and get the rebound and he’s able to do all that,” said Minnesota coach Chris Finch about Gobert Sunday night. “A lot of guys can play the coverage, but maybe not get the contest (on the shot) or play the coverage and not get the rebound. He’s able to do all three.”
Gobert reached the milestone, but the Wolves still rely on Anthony Edwards. Edwards has missed seven games this season because of a foot and hamstring injury but has averaged 30 points over his last three games. Julius Randle, the former Knick, has been fully healthy this season and is scoring 22.5 points per game for Minnesota.
New York handed the Timberwolves their worst loss of the season on Nov. 5 at Madison Square Garden, holding Edwards to 15 points in a 137-114 Knicks win. New York sunk 19 of 42 from beyond the arc and outrebounded Minnesota 50-31 in the victory.
