Knicks’ Jalen Brunson will miss Warriors game after spraining right ankle against Kings

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson left Wednesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings early in the first quarter after spraining his right ankle, missing the rest of the Kings’ 112-101 win.

Brunson was also ejected from Thursday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.

Advertisement

Four minutes into the game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Brunson dribbled into the frontcourt, taking a screen from teammate Josh Hart to force a switch that would allow him to separate himself from rookie center Maxime Raynaud. As the star guard began to attack, however, he fell to the ground and dropped the ball, leading to a steal and a fast break by Knicks teammate Precious Achiuwa.

Brunson got to his feet and stayed in the game, but went ahead on the next several possessions before calling it quits with 7:01 to go in the first quarter. He went back to the locker room, and that was it; The Knicks would later list him as questionable to return, before ruling him out completely early in the third quarter. He would finish with four points on 2-of-3 shooting in five minutes of overtime.

This marks the second sprained right ankle this season for Brunson, who missed two games in November after a loss to the Orlando Magic. He seriously injured the same ankle in last season’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers — an injury that sidelined him for nearly a month, costing him 15 games.

The Knicks did not have an official update on Brunson’s condition following the loss, according to ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill. Brunson left the visiting locker room without the aid of crutches or a walking boot, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic; he would have been limping, according to Newsday’s Steve Popper.

Advertisement

Brunson, 29, is eighth in the NBA in scoring at 28.2 points per game and 21st in assists with 6.1 per game, shooting 48.1% from the field, 38.8% from three-point range and 85.2% from the free throw line. He is expected to earn his third consecutive All-Star selection when the roster is announced later this month.

The Knicks, who sit in second place in the Eastern Conference at 25-15, are 1-2 without Brunson this season. During his extended absence last season, they went 9-6, with Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby all averaging more than 20 points per game and shouldering a growing offensive load.

With Brunson unavailable, New York’s offense stepped up for the Kings, as the Knicks shot 39% from the floor and 8-for-41 (19.5%) from 3-point range en route to their fourth-worst performance of the season, according to Cleaning the Glass. The loss was the Knicks’ sixth in the last eight games, continuing a long slump that has seen them go 7-8 with the NBA’s second-worst defense since winning the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup last month. New York will travel to San Francisco on Thursday to face the Warriors in the second night of the next game.