Karl-Anthony Towns labelled New York Knicks team-mate Jalen Brunson as a “special player” after the point guard’s brilliant display against the Miami Heat.

Brunson scored 47 points in the Knicks’ 132-125 win, scoring six three-pointers, and also recorded eight assists at Madison Square Garden.

Along with recording his career-best for points at the venue, Brunson surpassed Carmelo Anthony for the most 45+ point and 5+ three-pointers made games for the Knicks (five), and equalled Bernard King’s eight 45-point regular season games for the franchise.

The Knicks are the second seed in the Eastern Conference with a 20-8 record, trailing the Detroit Pistons by two wins.

Towns praised both Brunson and the rest of the Knicks team for getting over the line against the Heat on Sunday.

“He’s a special player. I think we all know that,” Towns said of Brunson. “It doesn’t surprise you when he has nights like this.”

squad got it done in front of the home crowd 

Jalen 47 PTS | 8 AST | 3 REB
Mikal 24 PTS | 4 AST | 2 REB
OG 18 PTS | 3 AST | 2 REB | 2 BLK | 1 STL
Josh 13 PTS | 10 REB | 5 AST | 2 STL

vote your knicks for nba all-star  https://t.co/Ov3esq1i8z pic.twitter.com/9BVRbv8atS

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 22, 2025

“This is awesome to be able to win a game like this. I feel what’s great about our team is that we’re showing how we got so many different ways to win, and I think that’s going to prove well for us in the playoffs.”

And Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra added on Brunson: “He is an incredible competitor. If you want to beat a great competitor, you have to [go] above and beyond.

“It’s possible, but you can’t just play well and you can’t just compete well; you can’t just be there. You got to put him away.”