Knicks' Jalen Brunson misses Dallas return due to injury

DALLAS -- A sore right hip sidelinedNew York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson during his first visit to Dallas since departing in free agency last summer.

The Knicks announced about 45 minutes before tipoff that Brunson, who had been listed as questionable, would be out.

Brunson played when the Knicks lost to theMavericks121-100 in New York in early December. The rematch was his first missed game of the season, with Dallas again coming out on top in a wild 126-121 overtime victory.

Wearing a baby blue hoodie on the Knicks bench, Brunson watched a tribute video after the first quarter and waved to the cheering crowd afterward. He hugged several members of the Dallas staff on his way to the locker room at halftime.

New York was essentially without two starters after RJ Barrett exited with a right index finger laceration 96 seconds into the game.

Brunson spent the first four seasons of his career with the Mavericks after being selected with an early second-round pick in the 2018 draft. He was Dallas' second-leading scorer last season and played an especially critical role in the Mavs' run to the Western Conference finals, scoring 41 and 31 points in wins over the Utah Jazz in the first round while superstar Luka Doncic was recovering from a calf strain.

The Mavs hoped to re-sign Brunson, but he signed a four-year, $104 million deal with the Knicks in free agency. New York was penalized a future second-round pick after an NBA investigation determined that the Knicks, who hired Brunson's father, Rick, as an assistant coach in June, were guilty of violating the league's tampering rules by engaging in free agency discussions with Brunson before permitted.

Brunson is averaging career highs of 20.2 points and 6.6 assists per game this season.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.