Jalen Brunson exits Knicks' loss to Kings after spraining right ankle in first quarter
- - Jalen Brunson exits Knicks' loss to Kings after spraining right ankle in first quarter
Dan DevineJanuary 15, 2026 at 8:07 AM
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New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson left Wednesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings early in the first quarter after spraining his right ankle, missing the remainder of what would become a 112-101 Kings win.
Four minutes into the game at 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 isolate against rookie center Maxime Raynaud. As the star point guard started to attack, though, he fell to the floor and threw the ball away, leading to a steal and fast-break dunk by former Knicks teammate Precious Achiuwa.
Brunson got to his feet and remained in the game, but moved gingerly through the next several possessions before asking to come out of the game with 7:01 to go in the opening quarter. He went back to the locker room, and that was that; the Knicks would later list him as questionable to return to the game, before ruling him out entirely at the start of the third quarter. He’d finish with four points on 2-for-3 shooting in five minutes of floor time.
This marks the second right ankle injury of the season for Brunson, who missed two games in November after rolling it in a loss to the Orlando Magic. He suffered a more serious sprain to that same ankle during a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers last season — an injury that kept him on the shelf for nearly a month, costing him 15 games.
Jalen Brunson left the Knicks' loss to the Kings after just five minutes following a right ankle injury. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) (Lachlan Cunningham via Getty Images)
The Knicks did not have an official update on Brunson’s status following the loss, according to Vincent Goodwill of ESPN. He walked out of the visiting locker room without the aid of crutches or a walking boot, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic; he wasn’t limping, according to Steve Popper of Newsday.
Brunson, 29, is eighth in the NBA in scoring at 28.2 points per game and 21st in assists at 6.1 per game, shooting 48.1% from the field, 38.8% from 3-point range and 85.2% from the free-throw line. He’s expected to earn his third consecutive All-Star selection when rosters are announced later this month.
The Knicks, who sit in second place in the Eastern Conference at 25-15, are 1-2 without him 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 an increased offensive workload.
With Brunson unavailable, New York’s offense cratered against the Kings, as the Knicks shot just 39% from the floor and 8-for-41 (19.5%) from 3-point range en route to their fourth-least-efficient offensive performance of the season, according to Cleaning the Glass. The loss was the Knicks’ sixth in the last eight games, continuing a prolonged 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 Golden State Warriors on the second night of a back-to-back.
Source: “AOL Sports”
