Deuce McBride, Donte DiVincenzo carry Knicks on off night for Jalen Brunson

With the Knicks still without Julius Randle, the burden to carry the load offensively has fallen upon the shoulders of Jalen Brunson. Saturday at Madison Square Garden would normally have been a loss as the All-Star point guard had a rare off night from the floor, if not for 57 points from Donte DiVincenzo and Deuce McBride.

“When you play basketball the right way and play within our system… anybody can have a big night,” DiVincenzo, who scored 31 on 12-for-24 shooting in 41 minutes in the 105-93 win over the Brooklyn Nets, said. “... I think I just got rolling early and then when you’re just playing in the system and everybody has the freedom and the green light, that’s just what happens.”

But Brunson, who made just seven of his 24 attempts, was not a non-factor, he added eight assists and four rebounds and was a plus-12 in 33 minutes.

“Obviously we lean heavily on Jalen, but nights where it doesn’t fall for him, necessarily, he can still do other things,” DiVincenzo said. “He can still create for everyone around him, I think that’s what he did early on in the game.”

Tom Thibodeau said it “may have been [DiVincenzo’s] best game” as he praised both guards, adding, "There's nothing that you don't love about Deuce."

“We needed it. Both guys hit timely buckets,” the head coach said. “Deuce was terrific defensively because he’s chasing [Cam] Thomas around and Thomas is a load to deal with."

“...Just timely baskets, big plays, hustle plays defensively.”

McBride finished with 26 pints on 9-for-16 shooting, hitting 6-for-12 from beyond the arc. New York also got 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting in 26 minutes from Isaiah Hartenstein.

“Whoever's got it going that’s where we’re going,” Thibodeau said. “Some nights it’s not your night, it’s somebody else’s night. Put the team first, everyone sacrifice and that’s really what we’ve done all year.”

The Knicks, who trailed at the half, entered the fourth quarter up just three points and that’s when DiVincenzo said he believes they “just locked in defensively, limiting them to one shot, make it hard, be physical” and “limit their second chance opportunities.”

“I wasn’t even paying attention to the score,” he said. “I was just trying to make the right play, be aggressive and the right play they were giving me space at the rim, and I took advantage of it. That was really as simple as it was. I didn’t know the score. I was just trying to get stops and play the right way.”

The Knicks out-scored their visitors 25-16 in the period, including a 12-3 run over the period's first four minutes.

Playing virtually a “back-to-back” after returning from the four-game West Coast road trip yesterday evening, the team’s mental toughness was on full display, much to the head coach’s delight.

“It says a lot about them and I love the mental toughness of our team, the ability to persevere through things,” Thibodeau said. “When things aren’t going our way, just keep going, then make it go our way and then in the end, find a way to win, whatever it is that we gotta do, that’s what we have to do.

“And it’s a credit to them. That’s the makeup of these guys and their willingness to commit to play for the team first and put everything they have into it. It says a lot about them.”

And there was one person who was there for it all, as McBride played all 48 minutes. DiVincenzo said he was “not surprised” about the third-year man not getting a rest and credited his preparedness and professionalism.

"Obviously early on in the year, [McBride] wasn’t playing as much,” he said. “But you have to credit him. Most guys, when they're not playing much or not playing at all, they kind of give in to the, ‘Ok I'm not gonna do extra workouts, I'm not gonna do this, I'm not gonna do that.'

“He does everything and he's ready to go. So when his number’s called and he doesn’t come out, that’s what happens, he’s ready to go."

McBride said he stayed in game shape during his time out of the rotation by trying to “make practice harder than the games.”

He added the challenge of playing all 48 minutes in the wind was, "Honestly, it's mental. Just telling myself to keep pushing through, give everything I've got in order to get the win."

Did McBride ever look toward Thibs to see if a sub was coming?

"I try not to look over. I want to stay in,” he said, breaking into a big smile. “I want to stay in.”

The ability to log heavy minutes – 44 and 47 in the last two games entering Saturday – and produce when the team needed it – 29 and 11 points – isn’t lost on McBride’s teammates.

“Just proud of him that he stayed ready,” Harentestein said, “the way he’s been playing has been great for us. It’s not just like he’s coming in and kinda filling in minutes, he’s really helping us win right now and that’s been great to see.”