Jalen Brunson returns from shoulder injury to tie Carmelo Anthony with 17th 40-point game as a Knick

NEW YORK (AP) — After moving up the New York Knicks' franchise list with another 40-point game, Jalen Brunson wouldn't reveal much about the shoulder injury that forced him to leave in the third quarter Sunday.

Those around him were happy to talk about what it meant to see him ignore whatever pain he was feeling and return to the game.

“I think it’s inspiring,” coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Brunson finished with 44 points, tying Carmelo Anthony for third on the franchise list with his 17th game of 40 or more as a Knick, in a 140-106 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Only Hall of Famers Patrick Ewing (30) and Bernard King (23) remain ahead of Brunson, who is only in his third season with the Knicks.

“You start getting mentioned in those categories, it’s a credit to him,” Thibodeau said. “Particularly, he’s such a self-made guy. And again, I think his talent speaks for itself, you can’t do those things without great talent, but to also have the humility that he has. And for him, he just wants to win. That’s the most important thing. If Jalen scores two points and we win, he’s as happy as if he scores 44 and we win.”

Brunson scored 23 in the first quarter, one off his career high for any period, and was off to another strong start in the third when he stayed down on the court after having his shot blocked on a drive to the basket. Once he got up, he quickly motioned to the bench that he needed to come out and walked immediately back to the locker room area.

Thibodeau said the injury was a shoulder stinger. Brunson said he did some strength tests before determining he could continue.

“I made the decision to go back out there,” he said.

Fans gave him a loud ovation when he emerged from the tunnel area about six minutes after exiting and he immediately walked to the scorer's table to check back into the game.

Brunson told reporters they would need to ask the doctors for clarification and check the injury report Monday to see if he would be able to play that night against Detroit.

That's assuming Brunson was actually hurt.

The Roommates Show, the podcast Brunson does along with teammate Josh Hart, posted on X that the Philadelphia fan was “actually just watching the Eagles game in the locker room.”

Hart went along with that theory.

“Yeah, he wanted to see the score of the Eagles game,” Hart said. “So I told him next time he could just ask somebody and not go into the back, but to each his own.”

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Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press