On Tuesday evening, the New York Knicks fell back to Earth with a road loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves, dropping their record to 20-9 on the 2025-26 NBA season. The Knicks did a solid job of hanging in there in this game despite playing without star point guard Jalen Brunson, who sat out with a right ankle injury.
Some fans were wondering if this injury might keep Brunson out for the Knicks’ upcoming Christmas Day matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, on Wednesday afternoon, the team got a positive update in that department.
“Sources say Jalen Brunson will play on Christmas Day in the first game of the slate… against the Cleveland Cavaliers,” reported ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania in a video posted to his account on X, formerly Twitter.
Brunson has been on a heater lately, passing the 40-point plateau on multiple occasions in the last several games and leading the Knicks closer to the top of the Eastern Conference standings, where they currently only trail the upstart Detroit Pistons for the number one seed in the conference.
Injuries have been a bit of an issue for the Knicks so far this year, with OG Anunoby missing a chunk of time earlier in the season, and Karl-Anthony Towns also being banged up since the season began.
However, on Christmas, they’ll have a chance to get back on track against a Cavaliers team that has been a major disappointment so far this season.
In any case, the Knicks and Cavs are slated to tip off on Thursday at 12:00 pm ET.