Home Not So Sweet Home; Knicks' Winning Streak Ends vs. Doncic-less Mavericks in Brunson's Return

A season-best outing from Kyrie Irving guided the Dallas Mavericks to a one-sided victory over the New York Knicks in Jalen Brunson's return to American Airlines Center.

The New York Giants' season is over but a blue metropolitan group still had trouble prevailing in North Texas. 

Jalen Brunson endured an awkward trip home on Thursday night, as his first minutes on American Airlines Center's floor as an opponent yielded the end of the New York Knicks' New Year's winning streak with a wire-to-wire victory.

Brunson's original NBA employers, the Dallas Mavericks, took a 128-124 victory, as Kyrie Irving's 44-point offensive showcase ended the Knicks' victorious tally at five. With Brunson's draft classmate Luka Doncic out, former Knick Tim Hardaway Jr. took over alongside Irvin, scoring 32 in just his fifth start of the season. Hardaway and Irving put in 12 of Dallas' 17 three-pointers, hitting six each. 

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Brunson did manage to wow his former public with a 30-point showing, most of it earned over the final stages of the game after shooting 5-of-14 over the first three frames. Dallas native Julius Randle led the Knicks with 32 while Isaiah Hartenstein pulled in 15 rebounds. 

Thursday's unsuccessful visit to Dallas also marked the Knicks' first loss since obtaining OG Anunoby in a Dec. 30 trade with the Toronto Raptors. Adding insult to literal injury, the Knicks were unable to get by a Dallas group that was missing not only Doncic (earner of a 60-point, 21-assist, 10-rebound triple-double when the Brunson-less Knicks visited Dallas last season) but fellow lineup regulars Dante Exum and Dereck Lively. 

The defense that had partly sustained the Knicks (22-16) over the past five games failed them in the early going, allowing Dallas to score 44 over the first dozen, a season-worst in points against New York in an opening period this year. With 30 more in the second, the Mavericks upped their lead to 19 by halftime and were up by as much as 21 with the opening points of the third quarter.

Dallas (23-16) kept its lead for the rest of the game but the Knicks certainly didn't make it easy. In the aforementioned Doncic showing, the Mavericks infamously erased a nine-point deficit in just over a half-minute to win the game in overtime. Deja vu nearly struck in reverse, but New York simply couldn't finish the job.

Down by 20 with just eight minutes remaining, the Knicks embarked on a run that got as close as they could without tying or taking the lead on a Donte DiVincenzo corner triple in the penultimate minute that capped off a 27-8 run featuring 14 tallies between Brunson and Anunoby. Brunson managed to cap off his homecoming in a relative style, sinking 5-of-8 in the fourth quarter as the Knicks nearly clawed back.

But Dallas was able to wrangle momentum back for good after DiVincenzo's would-be heroics and a plus-7 advantage in rebounding went for naught. The Mavericks extended a possession to four tries from the field on offensive rebounds, including two for Hardaway and one for Dwight Powell, who had a game-best five alongside Hartenstein. 

Hardaway was able to send the last one to Josh Green, who put up a three-pointer that made it a two-possession game and turned the remainder into a parade of free throws for the Mavericks, who created their final margin for their fourth win over the past five games. Dallas is set to visit Madison Square Garden next month to complete the yearly pair between the interconference foes. 

Brunson 'Thankful', Not Vengeful As Tip-Off vs. Mavericks Looms

The Knicks get a chance to start a new winning streak on Saturday night when they face the Memphis Grizzlies (8 p.m. ET, MSG).