The Knicks almost suffered another loss in the early part of the season on Wednesday, but rallied to instead move to 2-3 on the year, thanks in large part to Jalen Brunson's explosion.

However, he's not the only one who played well, and there were a few who didn't.

Winner No. 1: Jalen Brunson

The Captain is finally back. A 38-point outburst from Brunson helped lead the Knicks to a second straight victory. He was 13-of-25 (52.0%) from the field and 6-of-10 from three. A whopping 22 of his 38 points came in the second half, going 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-6 from deep in the third and fourth quarters.

While Brunson struggled at the rim, going 1-of-5, he was 12-of-20 on all other types of shots. The six threes were a pretty significant development, considering he shot just 20.0% from three, going 4-of-20 on such shots, through his first four games of the season.

It was also his second straight game with seven assists with five of them coming in the second half. Speaking of the second half, the Knicks had a 63.8% TS% with Brunson on the floor in the final two quarters, going 12-of-22 (54.5%) from three with a 157.9 offensive rating.

Winner No. 2: Tyler Kolek

While the starting point guard was the star of the Knicks’ win, his backup for the second straight game—due to Jose Alvarado’s ankle injury—helped bring the Knicks back into the game. Take a bow, Tyler Kolek; another very solid showing from the Knicks’ third-string point guard.

To start, he made two threes, had an assist, and was a +7 in the third quarter. For the entire second half (10:45 on floor), the Knicks won his minutes by 12 points. He led the Knicks in the second half with six assists, and no turnovers, and the Knicks had an absurd 181.8 ORTG and 74.1% TS% with him out there in the final two quarters.

Jose Alvarado might have some competition? Well, I wouldn’t go that far yet, but Kolek has served amazingly in his role and contributed heavily in his recall to the rotation. He was also holding his own in Chicago on Wednesday on the defensive side, as well.

Winner No. 3: Jordan Clarkson

What a fourth quarter performance from Jordan Clarkson. He was called into action with the Knicks looking for a spark off their bench from their wing group and he absolutely delivered.

Clarkson was solid in his first stint of the game in the second quarter, scoring six points (2-of-5 shooting) in 4:48 on the floor. However, it was the fourth quarter that took the cake with him scoring 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, making two threes  and registering two steals.

He was really doing it on all levels scoring, shooting threes, making shots close to the basket, while playing strong defense. Clarkson might’ve landed himself more playing time and the Knicks flourished in his minutes, posting a 154.5 ORTG, 112.5 defensive rating, and +42.0 net rating in his time on the floor on Wednesday.

Winner No. 4: Landry Shamet

Landry Shamet falls under the “winner” category... because why wouldn’t he? He’s an NBA champion. But for real, the Knicks have consistently won his minutes this season, doing so yet again in Wednesday’s win.

Shamet played 32:21 off the bench, going 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from three, scoring 14 points, along with five assists. He also recorded two blocks! The only Knick with a higher plus-minus than Shamet was Clarkson.

The Knicks ended up having a 149.2 ORTG and 68.8% TS% in Shamet’s minutes, compared to a 94.7 ORTG and 41.9% TS% with him sitting during the game.

Loser No. 1: Mikal Bridges

With Shamet and Clarkson being touted winners, we come back to a regular in the “loser” side of this story. Mikal Bridges only played 13 minutes in the Knicks’ win and they were some ill-inspiring minutes, to say the least.

He was 1-of-4 from the field, making a three, along with more fouls (two) than made shots. The Knicks lost his minutes for the game by five points and won all other minutes by 11.

It really didn’t help Bridges’ case that anyone else that stepped on the floor to replace him, with the exception of Deuce McBride (1-of-7 from field), thrived for the Knicks on Wednesday.

Loser No. 2: OG Anunoby

It makes sense that both losers from the Knicks’ second straight win are from “Wingstop” with OG Anunoby rounding out the list. He had 23 points on league-average shooting for the game, gathering in six rebounds.

Anunoby made five of his nine rim attempts for the game, but it didn’t seem like these were smart takes by him for most of the game, even though the Knicks finished with 1.36 points per OG Anunoby drive (he unofficially led the game with 11 drives).

The Knicks’ defense was way worse with him on the floor, posting a 127.1 DRTG in his 30:30 on the floor, compared to a 115.2 DRTG with him sitting on the bench. For the season, the Knicks had a 94.1 DRTG and +30.7 NETRTG with Anunoby sitting across 73 minutes; with him on the floor, they had a 120 DRTG and -13.8 NETRTG.