Back to full strength after missing Jalen Brunson in their previous two contests, the Knicks hit the 41-game midpoint of the season with a redemptive victory at the Garden.
Brunson returned from his calf injury to score 30 points with seven assists in 37 minutes Wednesday as the Knicks beat the Rockets 109-94 on Tom Thibodeau’s 66th birthday.
“Fantastic,” Brunson said when asked about his health. “Any chance I get to get out there to go play when I’m feeling great, I want to play, obviously.
“I think we’re in a good place right now, but we got a lot of room for improvement. There’s a place we want to be, and we don’t want to be peaked out. We want to continue to get better.”
Julius Randle provided 31 points with eight rebounds and OG Anunoby contributed 15 points and four steals in his seventh win in nine games with the Knicks (24-17), who also will play Thursday night at MSG against the Wizards before RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley return to New York on Saturday with the Raptors.
“I told [Brunson] to get his ass back … because we need him,” Randle said.
“When you’re not able to be out there, it’s tough mentally. You’ve got to do what’s best for you long term,” Brunson added. “Obviously, I want to be out there and help my team win.”
Like Brunson, Josh Hart also played a strong game — 10 points and 13 boards in 30 minutes — after being listed as questionable with a knee issue.
“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Hart said. “We’re playing well and I think the positive thing is the record is good, but we probably let four or five get away that we should have won. That’s encouraging, but the second half of the year is always a challenge.
“I think we just have to continue to build on what we’ve been doing.”
Brunson nailed his first two 3-point attempts, but the Knicks were 3-for-10 from deep in a sluggish opening quarter.
Randle’s 10 points kept the Knicks within two, at 25-23, with Jabari Smith Jr. and Jalen Green netting seven apiece for Houston.
Hart drew the Knicks even with a drive to the hoop in the opening minute of the second and Quentin Grimes sank five free throws as part of an 10-2 run by the Knicks bridging the two quarters.
Grimes also knocked down a 3-point attempt later in the period — and Randle slammed home a dunk off a Donte DiVincenzo steal — as the Knicks carried a 48-46 advantage into intermission.
A 3-pointer by Randle and a traditional three-point play by Brunson in the opening minute of the third helped the Knicks expand their cushion to six.
Anunoby drilled back-to-back corner treys and added an inside bucket for a 64-55 lead, and Randle pushed it to double figures with his second 3-pointer barely four minutes into the session.
The Knicks, who flushed a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter Monday against the Magic, led by eight this time entering the final 12 minutes.
Grimes (11 points) connected again from long range early in the fourth for a 13-point cushion, and the Rockets drew no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Anunoby punctuated the win with a two-handed stuff off a no-look feed from Randle plus the and-1 free throw for a 96-81 game with five minutes remaining.
“Right now, we’re relying more on our defense, and that part I thought was really good. We got a lead in the second half and I thought we played tough with a lead in the fourth quarter, and that was important for us,” said Thibodeau, who actually let his guard down a bit when asked about his birthday. “Forever I can remember either games or being at a game, and I can think of no better way to celebrate a birthday than being around a bunch of people that care about the game and winning. That’s where the enjoyment comes from.”
