Knicks' Jalen Brunson scores 39 points in 29-point Game 5 win over Hawks at MSG

Along the baseline under the basket a lineup of some of the greatest scorers ever to wear the Knicks uniform sat in a row. Carmelo Anthony, surrounded by Larry Johnson, Stephon Marbury, Patrick Ewing and Walt Frazier.

And even they seemed as incredulous as the rest of the 19,812 filling Madison Square Garden as they watched Jalen Brunson operate in front of them.

The one thing that the Atlanta Hawks had been able to do with an array of long-armed, tall, athletic defenders was slow down the All-Star guard. But one constant through his tenure in New York has been that no matter what sort of defensive scheme the opposition plots, Brunson eventually finds an answer.

The answer came in a 39-point exhibition as he led the Knicks to a 126-97 win over the Hawks. The Knicks have now taken a three games to two lead in the series with a chance to close it out in Atlanta Thursday night. It will be at State Farm Arena, which usually finds a crowd nearly as boisterously cheering for the Knicks.

“It’s really cool seeing them, the support they give us and everything, seeing them before and after the games,” Brunson said of the former Knicks cheering him on. “It’s always cool seeing former players come back and seeing how energetic they can get is cool. There’s no place like this place.”

The Hawks had limited Brunson and he had deferred, drawing the double teams and letting others do the work in Game 4 when the Knicks evened the series. But it was little surprise that he would do what he has always done. He finished the night 15-for-23 from the field and added eight assists.

Whatever Atlanta tried it has resulted in a pair of one-sided wins for New York with Brunson providing the finishing blow on this night with 17 fourth-quarter points

. “It was just important for us to come out the way we did, regardless of who was doing the scoring or whatever,” Brunson said.

“I think just us being on a string on both sides of the ball helped us. We were locked in mentally, the way we were playing. There’s still lot of things we can do better and not have lapses. I think our mentality locking into the game is something that we need to continue to have.”

The Knicks seemed to find the answers on both ends of the floor. CJ McCollum, who had exploded early in the series, had just six points on 3-for-10 shooting, mostly with Josh Hart blanketing him. Hart left the game and went to the locker room before the game was over, having taken a hard fall earlier. The Knicks did not have an update on his condition.

After Karl-Anthony Towns dominated Game 4, Atlanta opened the game with Dyson Daniels on him. The Hawks tried one defender after another on Brunson and by the time that they got Daniels back on him it was too late, the Knicks’ captain was activated. And Daniels had no better luck than anyone else.

Early in the fourth quarter, Brunson isolated against Daniels on the right side, setting him up and finally when he picked up his dribble and Daniels moved toward him, Brunson took a step past him, dropping in a short shot and drawing a foul. He followed it on the next trip with a three-point field goal, giving him eight straight points and pushing the Knicks lead to 24 points.

“We want him to be aggressive and the biggest thing for us is to keep trying to find ways to move him around, because he’s impactful whenever he’s in the action,” Mike Brown said.

“He can beat you in so many ways,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “We’ll keep putting different guys on him, changing matchups, doing any [thing] we can and just make it hard on him. Because I have tremendous respect for him as a player and a leader and his ability to create for himself and teammates. It’s not easy.”

But when they returned to the floor Towns hit a three and then with Jonathan Kuminga taking a turn defending him, Towns spun past him for a layup. By the time the Hawks were calling for timeout with 9:01 left in the half Towns was up to 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting, muscling his way repeatedly past an assortment of Atlanta defenders.

The Knicks began to find a way to get Brunson free even when Daniels took the assignment again of defending him. Stymied by Daniels as he tried to make a move, Brunson gave it up to Towns, who then found Brunson cutting through the lane for an easy layup.

Moments later, after Brunson followed his own miss in the paint, he scored ahead of the pack when Hart threaded the needle with a pass through a pair of defenders, giving the Knicks a 22-point lead at 59-37.

“I think it’s just constant adjustments and a constant chess game,” Brunson said.

“You see what move they make and you come back with a different move.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.