{"id":693804,"date":"2026-04-02T12:06:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/693804\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T12:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:06:31","slug":"jalen-brunson-less-knicks-grind-out-win-over-lowly-grizzlies-to-end-skid-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/693804\/","title":{"rendered":"Jalen Brunson-less Knicks grind out win over lowly Grizzlies to end skid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows OG Anunoby drives on Walter Clayton Jr. in the second half of the Knicks’ 130-119 win over the Grizzlies on April 1, 2026 in Memphis, Image 2 shows Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 11 assists, goes up for a layup during the Knicks’ win over the Grizzlies<\/p>\n

MEMPHIS, Tenn. \u2014 Technically, the Knicks fulfilled Josh Hart\u2019s \u201cmust-win\u201d decree.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t exactly the cakewalk it appeared after a historically dominant first quarter, as the Knicks needed to overcome slumping second-half stretches in Wednesday\u2019s 130-119 victory over the tanktastic Grizzlies.<\/p>\n

Without a resting Jalen Brunson, the Knicks tied a franchise record with 48 points in the opening quarter. It left the impression they were ready to breeze in Memphis, but the Knicks cooled off considerably in the second half \u2014 allowing the lead to dwindle to three in the third quarter \u2014 and coach Mike Brown was forced to run his starters until the final buzzer.<\/p>\n

\"OG<\/p>\n

OG Anunoby drives on Walter Clayton Jr. in the second half of the Knicks\u2019 130-119 win over the Grizzlies on April 1, 2026 in Memphis. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was good. We were sharing the ball, all that stuff. I think defensively we could\u2019ve been better, still gave up a lot of points,\u201d Mikal Bridges said. \u201cOffensively, we were sharing the ball, moving well. But defensively, we could\u2019ve done better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridges was active with 24 points. OG Anunoby led the way with 25 points and 13 boards. Karl-Anthony Towns collected his fourth career triple-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, benefiting from being the focal point of the offense in his 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

The effort was far from perfect, but the baseline of a victory was achieved after a three-game losing streak and a humiliating defeat a day prior in Houston.<\/p>\n

The vibes in the locker room postgame were positive, a contrast to the night prior when Towns, clearly frustrated, uncharacteristically left without talking to the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a group effort to regroup,\u201d Towns said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Immediately after that loss to the Rockets, Hart, the team\u2019s leader and spokesman, declared the Memphis matchup a \u201cmust-win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mikal<\/p>\n

Mikal Bridges, who scored 24 points, goes up for a layup during the Knicks\u2019 win over the Grizzlies. Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

And the Knicks responded exquisitely from tipoff with that powerful first quarter.<\/p>\n

Everybody ate. In the opening 12 minutes, the Knicks shot a ridiculous 81 percent \u2014 going 5-for-5 from deep \u2014 while collecting 14 assists. Nine Knicks scored in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

Six of them had at least five points.<\/p>\n

They led by 18 after that opening period, then by 17 at the break.<\/p>\n

But the Grizzlies responded in the third quarter \u2014 attacking the Knicks and hitting their 3-pointers.<\/p>\n

It meant Anunoby had to carry the Knicks to victory with 17 points in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shooting the same shots [as the previous three quarters], but they were just going in,\u201d Anunoby said.<\/p>\n

It was an impressive offensive statistical performance across the board, which will inevitably lead to pundit chatter that the Knicks play faster and freer without Brunson.<\/p>\n

\"Karl-Anthony<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 11 assists, goes up for a layup during the Knicks\u2019 win over the Grizzlies. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

But context matters. The Knicks (49-28) were playing the miserable Grizzlies (25-51), who are among the NBA\u2019s preeminent tankers and deployed a lineup of G-Leaguers.<\/p>\n

Ja Morant, Zach Edey, Santi Aldama Ty Jerome, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jaylen Wells were all out with injuries.<\/p>\n

Brandon Clarke, who was also an injury DNP, was reportedly arrested in Arkansas on Wednesday on charges of trafficking a controlled substance.<\/p>\n

The Grizzlies starters included two rookies (Cedric Coward, Javon Small), two former second-round picks (GG Jackson and Cam Spencer) and a player who started on a two-way contract this season (Olivier-Maxence Prosper).<\/p>\n

They also had three players in the rotation Wednesday on 10-day contracts.<\/p>\n

It was their 15th loss in their last 17 games.<\/p>\n

The Knicks?<\/p>\n

They\u2019re still third in the East \u2014 2 \u00bd games behind the Celtics for No. 2, and 1 \u00bd games clear of the Cavaliers at No. 4.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve also won 10 straight against teams with losing records. Conversely, they\u2019ve dropped five straight to opponents with winning records, including that blowout Tuesday in Houston that had Hart sounding alarms in the postgame locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going in the right direction,\u201d said Hart, who had just five points in Wednesday\u2019s win in 25 minutes. \u201cWe\u2019re not trending upwards. So we got to figure it out. \u2026 Got another one (on Wednesday in Memphis). That\u2019s a must-win for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Mike Brown appreciated the sense of urgency. \u201cIt\u2019s good to have that mindset,\u201d he said. His team responded well in Memphis, but only in the bookends of a win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still not happy about us in the second half not locked in and them making a run,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cThey play hard. A good young team. But I think it\u2019s unacceptable for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows OG Anunoby drives on Walter Clayton Jr. in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[7,2710,8675,3522,46,4459,1265,294,292,178,288,3499,2597,327,563,865,304,293,177,4070,1260,6,741,10824,181,2130,1083],"class_list":{"0":"post-693804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-memphis-grizzlies","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brandon-clarke","10":"tag-cam-spencer","11":"tag-cedric-coward","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-coach-mike-brown","14":"tag-gg-jackson","15":"tag-grizzlies","16":"tag-houston","17":"tag-ja-morant","18":"tag-jalen-brunson","19":"tag-javon-small","20":"tag-jaylen-wells","21":"tag-josh-hart","22":"tag-karl-anthony-towns","23":"tag-kentavious-caldwell-pope","24":"tag-knicks","25":"tag-memphis","26":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","27":"tag-memphisgrizzlies","28":"tag-mikal-bridges","29":"tag-nba","30":"tag-og-anunoby","31":"tag-olivier-maxence-prosper","32":"tag-the-grizzlies","33":"tag-walter-clayton-jr","34":"tag-zach-edey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116335032171760616","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}