Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks deliver dominant Game 5 win - ESPN

NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson hadn't yet delivered a signature game in the New York Knicks' first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks. The swing Game 5 seemed like the perfect time to remedy that.

Brunson's 39 points was, by far, his best showing of the series, and it coincided with the Knicks' all-around domination of the Hawks Tuesday in a 126-97 win at Madison Square Garden. New York took a 3-2 lead with a chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Thursday.

It was the second straight complete performance by the Knicks after two one-point losses, and perhaps Brunson had the Hawks' Game 2 visit in mind when stunned with Knicks with a fourth-quarter rally to steal homecourt advantage.

Brunson closed out the evening with 17 in the fourth to help the Knicks win comfortably.

«The ball went in, but just happy to we were able to keep the lead,» Brunson said. «They're a team that's capable of going on runs, as you know, from early in the series. But I liked the way we played in the fourth and kept the lead.»

Some of Brunson's highest-scoring exploits have occurred late in playoff series since becoming a Knick. He had three straight 40-point games in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers in 2024, a 40-point game against Detroit last year to clinch the series in Game 6 and one of his best, a 39-point, 12-assist performance against Boston last year in the second round to give the Knicks a 3-1 lead.

This one wasn't as dramatic, but it was necessary for himself as much as it was the Knicks. Brunson came into Game 5 with two sub-40 percent shooting games, being hounded by Hawks long, rangy guard Dyson Daniels.

But after Karl-Anthony Towns picked the Hawks apart with a triple-double on Sunday, Hawks coach Quin