Villanova in the Pros: Jalen Brunson Back For Playoffs

Villanova Men’s Basketball alumnus and current Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson returned to New York’s lineup on Sunday, April 6, one month to the day after suffering a right ankle sprain that kept him off the court.

The veteran point guard played 34 minutes — a low mark for head coach Tom Thibodeau, who asks a lot of his starters — easing his way back into the lineup and notching 15 points and six assists on 3-of-9 shooting. While that’s a relatively low mark for one of the top ten scorers in the NBA this season (Brunson averages more than 26 points per game), he managed to find the basket when it mattered most, nailing his lone three of the evening with less than two minutes to play, helping secure a double digit win for the Knicks.

Brunson rounded into form later in the week, putting up 27 points and 10 assists in a tough 119-117 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics. New York currently occupies the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with two games of cushion… and three games remaining in the regular season.

Elsewhere in the NBA, fellow Villanova products Collin Gillespie and Donte DiVincenzo starred off the bench for the Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively. Gillespie dropped 17 points, six rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes on April 9, while DiVincenzo knocked down six of ten threes on the way to a 24 point outing the day prior.