Jalen Brunson had had enough.
He had already seen the Knicks throw away two chances to put the game away at the end of regulation time and the first overtime.
That’s why he decided to take over.
Brunson scored the first six points of the Knicks’ double overtime and then made an accurate pass to assist a Landry Shamet layup.
When their lead was cut to three points, he hit a floater, giving the Knicks a three-point lead.
Like Batman, Brunson defeated the Joker in Gotham as the Knicks toppled the Nuggets 134-127 in double overtime on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, extending their win streak to eight.
But actually it was Jamal Murray who was the bad guy.
Named an All-Star for the first time in his career, he certainly played like an All-Star. He finished with 39 points and repeatedly threatened to end the Knicks’ win streak.
However, Murray missed his best chance to do it at the end of the first overtime.
He got as open a look as he could ask for, a chance for a game winner. But his three barely touched the rim.
A longer rebound, and the Knicks would have won on the spot.
But Mikal Bridges was called for a questionable loose ball foul on Christian Braun, who went for the rebound with 0.3 seconds left.
Braun made both free throws, sending the game into double overtime.
However, Bridges found some payback in double overtime by drilling the corner three to give the Knicks a seven-point lead.
Brunson finished with 42 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Nikola Jokic had a triple-double with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, but notably went 1-for-13 from 3-point range.
The Knicks had fallen behind by three in overtime, but Karl-Anthony Towns’ putback and Shamet’s three gave them a two-point lead.
Jokic scored at the other end to tie the game, and Shamet then missed a three-pointer.
Braun got the rebound but was whistled for tripping OG Anunoby – before the ball was turned back on a Nuggets challenge.
Mitchell Robinson then pinned Murray and poked the ball away before a shot clock violation was called. Towns scored in the post as the Knicks regained a two-point lead before the final series.
Even at the end of regulation they were within reach of a victory.
With the score tied 106-106 with just over a minute remaining, Brunson torched Christian Braun off the dribble on his way to a layup to give the Knicks a two-point lead.
On the other end of the floor, Robinson set up Jokic and forced a miss to get the ball back.
But the Knicks went on the offensive with a chance to put away, and Bridges missed a heave as the shot clock expired.
Murray promptly tied the game with a jumper, and Brunson then missed a potential game-winner. After a timeout with 0.6 seconds left, Jokic almost made a 3-pointer, but the miss sent the game into overtime.
Robinson had some early success guarding Jokic but ran into trouble, picking up his third foul with 6:51 left in the second quarter.
Coach Mike Brown later went on offense-defense with Robinson and Towns until Towns fouled out at the end of the first overtime.
Murray scored 18 straight Nuggets points in the first quarter. In fact, it took until 42.6 for a Nuggets player other than Murray or Jokic to score, with Tim Hardaway Jr. was fouled on a three-pointer and then made all three free throws.
Towns’ right eye was bloodied after he was fouled by Spencer Jones at the end of the first quarter. Their heads bumped into each other as Towns drove to the rim.
He stayed in the game and hit both free throws before being subbed out and heading back to the locker room, where he emerged with 3:11 left in the second quarter with a bandage over his eye.
He immediately scored the next seven points, then set up a rebound and threw a long outlet to Anunoby for a breakaway dunk, part of a 9–0 Knicks run.
Bridges didn’t score his first points until there was 9:57 left in the game.
The Knicks might have had to work a little harder than their previous seven games in this series.
But after several delays, their train remains full steam ahead.
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