Jalen Brunson’s early-series shooting struggles seem like a distant memory.
The Knicks’ superstar guard put the team on his back Sunday, breaking Bernard King’s 40-year-old playoff record by scoring 47 points in a 97-92 Game 4 road victory over the 76ers to give the Knicks a 3-1 lead in this first-round NBA playoff series.
And now the Knicks on Tuesday return to the Garden, where they won the series’ first two games, with a chance to advance to the second round.
Brunson finished 18-for-34 from the field with 10 assists and became the first Knick ever to record a 40-point, 10-assist game in the playoffs.
Brunson kept the Knicks in the game in the first half with 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting as they trailed by two at halftime.
The rest of the Knicks shot just 10-for-27 from the field during the first half.
Brunson limped a bit at the end of the third quarter and briefly went to the locker room but returned to action early in the fourth.
Already without Mitchell Robinson on Sunday due to an ankle injury, the Knicks lost Bojan Bogdanovic in the first half to a left ankle contusion after a collision with the Sixers’ Nicolas Batum in his first minute of action.
Bogdanovic limped to the locker room and was initially declared questionable to return, but he was ruled out for the remainder of the game in the middle of the third quarter.
Tom Thibodeau did not add anyone to his rotation after Bogdanovic’s injury, which meant the Knicks used just seven players for nearly three full quarters.
Robinson was ruled out after trying to warm up before the game.
He was hurt during the Knicks’ Game 3 loss on Thursday.