Dallas – Jalen Brunson missed his first Dallas reunion after the New York Knicks point guard was ruled out of a meeting with the Mavericks because of a sore right hip.
The club announced the decision shortly before the start of the game on Tuesday evening. Brunson was playing when the Knicks lost 121-100 to the Mavericks in New York in early December. The rematch was his first missed game of the season.
Brunson was drafted in the second round by Dallas in 2018, the same year Mavs Superstar Luka Doncic finished third overall.
Brunson, a two-time NCAA champion at Villanova, became quite a sidekick to Doncic before signing with the Knicks as a free agent last summer.
Brunson played a pivotal role with the Mavericks winning a first-round series against Utah last season when Doncic missed the first three games of the six-game series with a calf strain.
The Mavericks advanced to the Western Conference Finals, losing to Golden State, who won the title.
Brunson thrived as a starter alongside Doncic in coach Jason Kidd’s Dallas debut last season, but was interested in being the leading point guard elsewhere.
Brunson had close ties to the Knicks. His father, Rick Brunson, is an assistant coach and former player for New York. His father’s agent, Leon Rose, is the president of the Knicks.
Six days later, New York played Dallas The NBA docked a second-round pick to the club in draft 2025 for opening talks with Brunson ahead of free agency June 30.
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