SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jalen Brunson should have played wearing latex gloves and a surgical mask like he did when dissecting the Kings.
The point guard dropped 42 points in front of an excited crowd in Sac Town as the Knicks crushed the Kings in an exciting 98-91 game.
Branson was responsible for the engine, steering wheel, and tires.
He made 17 of 28 field goals in 36 minutes, including the biggest shot of the night, a floater off a quick dribble with 37 seconds left to give the visiting team a 96-91 lead. gave.
The Knicks (40 wins, 27 losses) have won their third straight game and are now 1 1/2 games behind the top three in the East.
The performance follows Brunson’s 45-point game two nights ago in Portland, with teammate Donte DiVincenzo declaring, “He’s an All-Star point guard, that’s what they do.” .
However, Brunson has been more than an All-Star this season.
He is on track to become the first guard to be named All-NBA since Clyde Frazier nearly 50 years ago in 1975.
Brunson is also slowly adding to the list of best players at his position across the league.
Brunson could be a top-three point guard if there are adjustments to take giant hybrid ball handlers, especially Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic, out of the conversation.
That depends on where he ranks among Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Tyrese Haliburton, Jamal Murray, Trae Young, and De’Aaron Fox.
On Saturday, Brunson outperformed Fox, one of the players on that list, with an inefficient 20 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
Brunson, on the other hand, helped the Kings by scoring a la carte, including 3-pointers, floaters, pivots and drives.
He found angles that shouldn’t exist, like when he swung his arms for an and-one layup from under two defenders with 5:46 left. The exception Saturday was a foul shot.
Two nights after making 17 from the line, Brunson made just four foul shots Saturday. It didn’t matter. Brunson scored 43 percent of the winning team’s points.
“That’s something we know, like if we don’t make a shot, we can rely on him to start the engine and keep us going,” Josh Hart said.
With DiVincenzo still a dud, OG Anunoby off Saturday and Julius Randle in casual clothes, Tom Thibodeau turned to his point guard again.
“He’s going to make the right plays,” the coach said. “He’s not going to fight double teams. The game will tell him what to do. And obviously when the team is full, he wants to play more out of transition. And , when we do that, we’re hard to defend. …The only thing about Jaylen is that he just wants to win. He can double up, but he’s not going to fight the ball. He’s going to make the right play. That’s who he is.”
Like the Knicks, the Kings have found success after decades of corruption.
They aren’t considered a contender yet, but the combination of Fox and Domantas Sabonis has put them in playoff contention.
They are also young and fast, with Fox being one of the fastest players in the NBA, and the Knicks said that was part of their preparation for the game.
“We know they’re going to push the ball pretty hard, so we just have to be able to get back on defense and that’s the biggest thing,” Isaiah Hartenstein said. “After a missed shot or a turnover, try to keep the turnovers low. Just get back on defense, that’s the most important thing.”
Sabonis was a handful.
The skilled big man, who leads the league in triple-doubles, pounded the paint, dropping 21 points with 14 boards.
But Branson was different.
