Knicks Notes: Ariel Hukporti’s first start, Jalen Brunson’s fourth-quarter takeover

After a disastrous weekend when they were blown out by two of the Eastern Conference’s top teams, the Knicks hosted the spiraling Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.

Easy win, right?

Not so fast. The 76ers staged a second-half comeback to take a lead late in the fourth quarter. The Knicks could not come up with consistent enough offense, and Tyrese Maxey put on his cape to help give Philly the lead. But Jalen Brunson put on a bigger cape to score 11 straight points and lead New York to a hard-fought 110-105 win.

Here are some notes from after the game.

Ariel Hukporti’s first start

With Karl-Anthony Towns ruled out prior to tipoff with a sore knee, rookie Ariel Hukporti was tasked with playing center in the starting lineup.

In 16 minutes, the rookie scored eight points while grabbing two rebounds — both on the offensive glass — and delivering one block. Hukporti didn’t get more run because he suffered what the team called a sprained left knee and missed the majority of the second half (coach Tom Thibodeau did not have an update on Hukporti’s condition after the game).

Despite the shortened start, Hukporti’s teammates came away impressed against a very game 76ers team.

“I’m proud of the way he comes in the game and impacts the game and what he does,” Brunson said after the game. “He’s retained a lot in a very short amount of time. Nothing but proud and excited for the way he’s been playing.”

“He did good, real good,” Mikal Bridges added. “Playing hard, communicate and playing the right way. [I told him] Know our coverages and play hard. I know he’s going to play that way. Just do the best you can.”

Precious Achiuwa was the center off the bench and had to play 31 minutes due to the rookie’s injury, but he came up big for the Knicks. He scored seven points while coming down with six rebounds, dishing two assists and swatting four shots, including a block in front of the rim against Andre Drummond in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

Achiuwa said that Hukporti approached him before the game for advice and the veteran big man made sure to drill one aspect of the Knicks’ game plan into the youngster’s head.

“Just go out there and make sure you talk. Be over-communicative,” Achiuwa said. “Talk to the guys.”

Mikal Bridges‘ ‘huge’ first quarter

Without Towns, the rest of the Knicks would have to help out in the scoring department. Bridges had the hot hand in the opening frame, scoring a season-high 19 points in the first quarter on 8-of-10 shooting.

“It was big time. Made some shots, played really well,” Brunson said of his teammate. “He played well on both sides of the ball. That’s what we expect. Nothing we haven’t seen before.”

Bridges finished with 28 points, three assists, two rebounds, two steals and one block showcasing the wide array of things he can do for the Knicks on both ends of the floor.

He was tasked with guarding Maxey for the majority of the game. And although the 76ers guard finished with 30 points, he was shut down in the first half, scoring just eight points. Maxey also didn’t hit a three-pointer the entire game.

“Mikal was terrific, the whole game,” Thibodeau said. “Not only his scoring but he’s on Maxey the whole time.”

Thibodeau called Bridges’ first quarter outburst “huge” in the absence of Towns and his aggressiveness set the tone early.

Jalen Brunson takes over fourth quarter

Brunson was not the focus of the Knicks offense on Wednesday. He scored eight points in the opening frame but dished seven assists, supporting Bridges’ first-quarter outburst.

But while Bridges got things started for New York, Brunson did what he does best and took over in the final minutes to push the Knicks to a win. The two-time All-Star scored 14 points in the final quarter, including nine straight when the 76ers took a four-point lead with less than three minutes to go.

“That’s what he does all the time,” Bridges said. “He’s capable of scoring like that, especially in the fourth, to help us win the game.”

When asked what his mentality is when he takes on the scoring responsibility in crunch time, the Knicks guard said his mindset doesn’t change throughout the game.

“Just focus on the next play. Whatever I see is where we’re going to attack,” Brunson explained. “Not going in to say ‘I’m going to score,’ I’m going to try and make the right play and go from there.”

Brunson’s heroics helped the Knicks win their two lone games since the All-Star break, including Wednesday.