In a matchup for second place in the East, the New York Knicks convincingly defeated the Toronto Raptors by 116–94 last night at Madison Square Garden. Mike Brown's team scored 116 points against the currently sixth-best defense in the league by defensive rating, while holding them to just 94 points with some tough defense.
Even though he didn't dominate like he usually does, Jalen Brunson played a solid game with 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists, but with poor shooting from the field at 6 for 19. Still, Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic gave ultimate praise to the 6-foot-2 guard.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Same conversation I can put Luka, Jokic… Guys playing at their own pace. You can't speed them up. Their awareness amazing… Elite… Not the fastest… but skill level & shooting amazing. And that makes him one of the biggest offensive weapons in the league," Rajakovic said to the media in the postgame interview.
Brunson is having an MVP-caliber season
Jalen is currently averaging 28.5 points and 6.2 assists on 47.8 percent from the field, 37.0 percent from deep and 86.1 percent from the free-throw line, while his team sits at 13–6 and seems to be adjusting better and better to the new system Brown implemented this season, as confirmed by a four-game winning streak.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe comparison with Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic makes sense for several reasons and the biggest is that Brunson is one of the rare players who controls the pace of the game. And just as the Serbian coach said in his statement, he's not the tallest, not the most athletic, not the fastest, yet purely through skill and basketball IQ, he continues to be one of the best players in the league season after season.
And Rajakovic is not the first this season to give ultimate praise to Brunson. Knicks legend Stephon Marbury thinks Brunson is approaching the level of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant.
"His craft is his own," Marbury told USA Today about JB last year. "He's a one of one. Like, you got Michael Jordan, you have Kobe Bryant, you have Kevin Durant. Jalen Brunson is turning into that type of basketball player and with all of the knowledge that he's obtained from watching basketball, playing basketball and then being tutored by his dad who played in the NBA, this is what he's built, it's what he's meant to do."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRelated: "I might not be able to walk no more in my 23rd season" - Luka Doncic shares how "difficult" playing with LeBron James is
Brunson is impacting winning like few players in the league
Even though we live in an era where players like Doncic and Jokic have raised the bar of excellence to something previously unseen, making Brunson's numbers seem average and normal, they are anything but. Before he arrived, New York had been a below-average franchise for many years, but that's no longer the case.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA lot of players in this league put up strong statistics, but very few impact winning for their team like JB.
The Knicks went from a team that couldn't even sniff the playoffs for a decade to a team that will finish in the top five in the East for the fourth straight season, all because of Brunson's impact, which still doesn't get the credit it deserves.
Related: "We used to cut my mom's socks and make them shooting sleeves" - Jalen Brunson explains how Allen Iverson shaped his childhood
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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