Amid Jose Alvarado's three-game absence from the lineup with an ankle injury, Tyler Kolek finds himself playing lights-out basketball for the New York Knicks.
Throughout this stretch, the junior baller has absolutely excelled in the primary backup point guard role, providing steady ball-handling and regularly dropping dimes reminiscent of Steve Nash to his Knicks running mates in 14.7 minutes a night.
Kolek just wrapped up Wednesday's 133-127 win over the Bulls with his second nine-assist game in four nights and, as of this writing, is the only player in the entire league who has registered double-digit assists (21) without coughing up a single turnover.
This stellar level of efficiency comes amid coach Mike Brown's request that the 25-year-old "run the team" when he's on the floor and "set our offense up."
Needless to say, Kolek seems to be busy answering this exact call from New York's headman. Given the jolt of energy his play has provided to this previously stagnant Knicks offense, it's hard to believe any more DNPs are on the horizon for the fan-favorite floor general.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson snapped his shooting slump... for now
Kolek wasn't the only Knicks stud who managed to shine in Wednesday's win over Chicago, as superstar Jalen Brunson finally managed to find his shooting groove following a putrid slump to start the year.
In 35 minutes of action, the reigning Finals MVP dropped a season-high 38 points on 52.0 percent shooting from the floor and a truly blistering 60.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
This burst in offensive efficiency comes as a welcome change of pace for Brunson, as he was amid a career-worst shooting slump with mere clips of 36.6 percent from the floor and 20.0 percent from deep over his first three games of the campaign.
Unlike his previous outings in 2026-27, Brunson looked comfortable out near the perimeter and showcased a smoother, more natural shooting form against the Bulls.
Considering he underwent wrist surgery this past summer to repair a soft-tissue tendon/ligament injury that plagued the point guard throughout New York's championship run last season, it should have been expected that a bit of rust would be built up from his multi-month recovery and dormancy period.
As the season rolls along, the expectation should be that his shooting success will have a positive regression back to the mean (boasted career shooting clips of 48.5 percent from the floor and 38.5 percent from deep entering this season).
Hopefully, his performance against Chicago is a sign that Brunson's already heading in the right direction.
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