Jalen Brunson stumbles, Evan Fournier scores

On Sunday in Abu Dhabi, the U.S. men’s national basketball team finished their five-game exhibition series with a 99-91 win against Germany.

The New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson started the game, but didn’t finish it.

In his least heroic performance of the five pre-World Cup games, Brunson played only 15 minutes, during which he shot 2-for-6 from the floor (two three-pointers). He had trouble containing Dennis Schröder (16 points, 10 assists) and was subbed out for Indiana Pacer Tyrese Haliburton (16 points) for much of the game.

Don’t sweat it, folks. Brunson has otherwise played great in the warm-ups for the World Cup. He and Anthony Edwards are the team leaders and are ready to carry USA deep into the tournament.

Fellow Knickerbocker Josh Hart also played limited minutes on Sunday. He finished with 10 minutes and grabbed three boards. Not bad for a game that didn’t count.

Next up, Team USA will travel to Manila to play their first tilt of the FIBA World Cup. They will face New Zealand on Saturday at 8:40 a.m. EST on ESPN2.

In other Knicks news, Evan Fournier dumped 29 points on Australia, but Team France still lost 78-74.

Evan’s hoping that his play this summer will increase his trade value and get him off of the bench in New York. His 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting didn’t hurt his cause. It just wasn’t enough to stop Josh Giddey and the Kangaroos.

France’s first game of the Cup will be against Team Canada, giving Fournier a chance to take on New York teammate RJ Barrett. Given Evan’s disgruntled disposition, things could get spicy! That’s also a Saturday game, 9:30 a.m EST. Tune in, watch some basketball—what else do you have going on?

Go Knicks!