NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks knew Jalen Brunson couldn’t play. Then they were thrown a surprise when neither could the guy who was supposed to replace him.
Without their leading scorer and down to their third choice for a starting point guard, the Knicks beat the Utah Jazz 119-103 on Wednesday night for their ninth straight victory.
Brunson was ruled out about 40 minutes before the game because of right calf tightness. Deuce McBride was expected to start in his place.
However, McBride developed left hamstring tightness and was scratched just before the game.
“Probably like right before they called the lineups,” said Cam Payne, who was then told he would start. “Halfway thought they weren’t going to call my name. I thought they were going to call Deuce and I was going to have to run out there, honestly. That’s how close it was to the lineups.”
Payne finished with eight points and nine assists. To back him up, the Knicks used rookie Tyler Kolek for 12 minutes off the bench.
That made it a 52-minute day for Kolek, who logged 40 minutes in a G League game in the afternoon, finishing with 36 points and 11 assists in the Westchester Knicks’ overtime victory against Indiana. He had two points and four assists versus Utah.
Brunson scored a season-high 55 points in a win at Washington on Saturday, but then struggled to a 6-for-17 shooting performance two nights later in the rematch.
Brunson is the Knicks’ leading scorer with 25.2 points per game. They relied heavily on him last season and had a hard time finding enough offense on nights when he struggled. But when he missed his first game of the season Wednesday, they got 12 assists from Josh Hart in his second straight triple-double and finished with 31 assists while shooting 55% from the field.
“It just shows a difference between last year and this year,” Hart said. “Last year, him out, not sure how that would have went.”
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