Key Highlights
- And he’s been thriving in his limited opportunities on the court with the All-Star point guard and floor general. Kolek posted quite possibly the best performance of his young career: 16 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench against the Pacers on Thursday.
- It’s the first double-double of his young career. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe outing immediately followed his standout game in the NBA Cup Final against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.“I want to thank the Lord for Tyler Kolek for saving me,” Brunson said in his walk-off interview after the victory. Kolek’s emergence has been a pleasant development for a team that needed a boost at his position. The Knicks have been in need of another playmaker ever since veteran point guard Malcolm Brogdon opted to retire in the middle of training camp instead of continue his basketball career on a one-year deal in New York this season. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTheir need for another option in the backcourt intensified when Miles McBride joined Landry Shamet on the injury list with an ankle sprain ahead of New York’s NBA Cup quarterfinal victory in Toronto. Kolek has answered the bell.
- The Knicks sat Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart alongside McBride and Shamet for Thursday’s matchup against the Pacers, the first leg of a road-home back-to-back before hosting the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
- The sophomore standout selected with the 34th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft responded with the best game of his early career. Perhaps no play was more important than a heady moment in crunch time: Kolek rifled a one-handed pass to the right corner to find OG Anunoby, who made a three to tie the game at 111 with less than 90 seconds left in regulation. Anunoby, unfortunately, found himself on an island against his former Toronto Raptors teammate Pascal Siakam on the Pacers’ final offensive possession of the fourth quarter.
- Siakam posted Anunoby on the right elbow, and stepped-back for a mid-range two that drew a shooting foul on the Knicks’ defensive stopper. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSiakam made both free throws to give the Pacers a two-point lead before Brunson came back up the court and hit a side-step go ahead three.