Jalen Brunson’s late heroics propel Knicks to stunning comeback win over Rockets

The Knicks looked dead, headed for a second straight ugly loss to a contender coming out of the All-Star break.

Jalen Brunson struggled through one of his worst offensive performances of the year, and his supporting cast had done little to help him. They trailed by 18 at the start of the fourth quarter and boos began to form around Madison Square Garden.

But it’s never a good idea to write Brunson off.

The All-Star point guard drilled a jumper to pull the Knicks within four points with 4:40 left in the game. Two possessions later, he drew a charge on Amen Thompson to get the ball back for the Knicks. Two more possessions later, he drilled another jumper to put the Knicks back within two minutes. With 1:14 to go, he hit a layup to tie the game at 103-103. Then he took another attack – this time on Kevin Durant.

Then came his signature moment.

He crossed paths with Tari Eason and drilled a jumper to give the Knicks a two-point lead with 21.2 seconds left. That was enough as the Knicks defeated the Rockets 108-106 on Saturday night at the Garden for their biggest comeback win of the season.

“Jalen was in trouble,” coach Mike Brown said. “It didn’t matter who was following him; he found a way to score.”

Brunson didn’t make a shot from the field until he left at the 4:21 mark of the third quarter, missing the first five he took. He had just two points at halftime, on free throws. But he scored eight points in the fourth quarter and went 4-for-4 from the field to help the Knicks avoid what would have been another loss.

Jose Alvarado had five points and three steals in that key fourth quarter as the Knicks began their comeback. They forced the Rockets into a total of nine turnovers in the fourth quarter and only committed one of their own.

Karl-Anthony Towns, whose involvement in the offense was a major talking point during Thursday’s blowout loss to the Pistons, added seven points in the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 25.

OG Anunoby scored just four points in the second half after trailing the Knicks by 16 in the first half, but he drilled both free throws with 5.4 seconds left to ice the game. Landry Shamet added 14 points off the bench and played key minutes down the stretch over Mikal Bridges — a recurring trend under Brown.

Durant entered the fourth quarter with 25 points, but scored just five in the quarter while shooting 2-for-6 from the field. And three of those points came on a 3-pointer after Anunoby’s free throws.

The Knicks’ defense offered little resistance — much like their loss to the Pistons — until they gained control in the fourth quarter. The Rockets shot more than 50 percent from the field well into the fourth quarter, but were only 3-for-12 in the final period.

The Knicks were 12 minutes away from sounding the alarm bells again. But Brunson came to life and made sure they stayed away.

“We found a way,” Brown said. “That’s what I’m most excited about.”