Knicks look like contenders as they stifle Spurs in statement win

The Knicks offense started the game in shambles. Then Jalen Brunson un-shambled it.

And they never looked back.

The surging Spurs had won 11 straight, looking like an elite team with title aspirations. And, since blowing a double-digit lead to the Spurs on New Year’s Eve, the Knicks had mostly dragged their feet.

But Sunday’s performance mirrored their showing in the NBA Cup final against the Spurs, whom the Knicks beat 114-89 at Madison Square Garden in an afternoon matinee. This was a statement that they can still compete with — and take command of — the NBA’s best.

Before and during that Cup triumph, the Knicks looked like bona fide contenders. But too often since that game, the Knicks were concerningly missing that identity — particularly against other supposed contenders. Sunday, though, it re-emerged.

Brunson, after missing his first three shots from the field, scored the last 11 Knicks points to end the first quarter and they somehow carried a one-point lead into the second quarter. Five of those points came on a five-point possession, when Brunson drew a flagrant foul on Dylan Harper while taking a 3-pointer — he hit 2 of 3 free throws, then after the Knicks kept possession, had an and-1, on Harper again.

Then the Knicks opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run — part of 19-0 and 26-2 runs spanning back to the first quarter — to take a 12-point lead before the Spurs called timeout. That 19-0 run was the longest unanswered run allowed by the Spurs this season. The Knicks shot 52.2 percent from the field during a red-hot second quarter and entered halftime up 10. Their lead never went below eight points the rest of the way.

Mikal Bridges in the third quarter picked up where Brunson, who finished with 24 points, left off in the first half. He delivered one of his most efficient shooting performances of the year, recording a team-high 25 points. He went 10-for-17 from the field and 5-for-9 from 3-point range. Fourteen of those points came in the third quarter as the Knicks largely traded baskets with the Spurs, maintaining their lead. He also had five steals — he picked off Harper’s pass and dunked on the other end midway through the fourth quarter to increase the Knicks lead to 18 points. Then Bridges picked off De’Aaron Fox’s pass later in the quarter and set up Landry Shamet for a dunk, increasing the Knicks lead to 19 points and providing an exclamation point.

On the other end, it was one of the Knicks’ best defensive showings all year. The Spurs’ 89 points were their lowest of the year — six points less than their previous low.

Victor Wembanyama, who has delivered some of the best games of his career against the Knicks, finished with 25 points. But the Knicks didn’t let him wreck the game, as he so often does. They had Karl-Anthony Towns match up with him on that end to start the game, then amid a big second quarter for Wembanyama, pivoted to having OG Anunoby guard him. The Knicks also forced Wembanyama into seven turnovers. He only had two points in the fourth quarter.

As a whole, the Knicks held the Spurs to 41.6 percent shooting from the field and 26.5 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Towns only took nine shots and finished with 12 points, but he recorded yet another double-double, adding 14 rebounds — five on the offensive glass.

The Spurs’ dynamic young backcourt of Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell — along with the veteran Fox — have the ability to disrupt opposing ball-handlers. But they hardly bothered Knicks guards on Sunday.

Sunday’s Knicks looked like the NBA Cup Knicks. It was a needed reminder of what this team’s ceiling is when they’re firing on all cylinders.

Larry David was sitting courtside. He was treated to a pretty, pretty good win.