The Numbers Crunch: Brunson and Knicks outlast Wizards

Center Marvin Bagley III in his debut with the Washington Wizards.The Wizards bounced back from a lackluster defeat to the Detroit Pistons to give a better effort in New York. It wasn’t enough, and they lost again to Jalen Brunson and the Knicks.

It was an ugly game with poor shooting, turnovers, and the usual inordinate amount of whining to the refs (from both teams). The Wizards shot a bit worse, Brunson kept making plays — he scored 20 in the fourth quarter — and that was just enough for the Knicks to eke out a win.

Washington’s defensive effort looked better in the first half than it did a couple nights previous against Detroit. They still gave up open threes, which the Knicks mostly…