Knicks coach Mike Brown had a feeling. A feeling that the Knicks discovered something in the second half of their 10-point loss to the Bulls in Chicago on Friday.
The first test of that theory came on Sunday night in a rematch with the Bulls at the Garden. The Knicks passed.
Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 31 points and the Knicks hit 20 three-pointers in a 128-116 victory. The Knicks snapped a three-game losing streak after they had opened the season with two wins.
The Knicks shot 20-for-42 from three-point range (47.6%).
It was a well-rounded effort. OG Anunoby scored 21 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points, 15 rebounds and five assists. Jordan Clarkson scored 15 points off the bench, and Josh Hart (14 points, nine rebounds) had his best game of the season.
“I saw Josh Hart,” Brunson said. “The one we know and love.”
The youthful Bulls, who are coached by Rockville Centre’s Billy Donovan, had won their first five games. Josh Giddey led Chicago with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. Nikola Vucevic added 17 points and 14 rebounds.
“I think we did a good job of finding a way to win against a good team, a hot team, a team that we just lost to,” Towns said.
“Showed some grit. Showed some resiliency. Bounce back ability that we were known for last year. It’s good.”
On Friday, in a 135-125 loss, the Knicks outscored the Bulls 72-63 in the second half. Brown saw a spark.
“Even after our first two wins, I said, ‘Hey, we can play better. We got the win, but we got to play much better,’ ” Brown said. “So after that second win, I think if you include preseason, we were six and one or whatever, but we were learning and growing. We had played well. Our two best halves of basketball were in the first half in Milwaukee and second half in Chicago. And hopefully we can string 48 minutes together, but it’s a process. But our guys are getting better . . . We all have to be better. Start with me. And we will be better.”
Accountability was on the menu early in the game as Mikal Bridges called out his Knicks teammates (except for Brunson) for failing to get back on defense on a Chicago fastbreak that ended with a basket to tie the score at 10.
As Brown called a timeout, Bridges jawed with Anunoby, who along with Towns and Mitchell Robinson didn’t bust it to help on defense. The basket was scored on a putback by Isaac Okoro after Bridges had deflected a shot by Matas Buzelis.
Would’ve been nice to have another rebounder back is what Bridges seemed to be very colorfully saying to his teammates.
“A couple of our guys didn’t hustle back and that’s something that we preach every day,” Hart said. “It’s something we’ve got to hold each other accountable to. It’s great that he did that.”
After the timeout, the Knicks outscored the Bulls 24-14 and led 34-24 after one as Brunson scored 19.
Chicago briefly took the lead in the second quarter, but the Knicks went into the half leading 68-60 and pulled away in the third, going up by as many as 25 points. The Knicks led 105-89 going into the fourth.
Hart has been banged up since training camp with a back injury and a finger injury. He revealed on Sunday that the digit issue involves more than one finger on his right hand.
“My nerve hasn’t fully gotten back to what it was before,” Hart said. “So there’s a little bit of tingling, a little bit of numbness in part of my hand. Hopefully, at some point, that nerve will get back, hopefully sooner rather than later. Right now, it’s just a process.”
Robinson, who made his season debut on Friday after sitting with a left ankle issue, exited Sunday’s game early in the third with an apparent right foot/ankle injury after landing awkwardly. But he returned later in the quarter and finished with no points, five rebounds and two blocks in 13:21.
Would Brown play Robinson two in a row and three games in four nights? We’ll find out on Monday, when the Knicks host Washington.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.