NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson figured his conditioning might be a little worse, but hoped his play would be a little better.
The New York Knicks won in his return to the lineup, which is ultimately what mattered most to Brunson.
The All-Star point guard had 15 points and six assists in his first game since spraining his right ankle a month ago, helping the Knicks beat the Phoenix Suns 112-98 on Sunday night.
“A lot of room for improvement on my end obviously, but I’m surprised by the conditioning part,” Brunson said. “I thought that would be a lot worse, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
Brunson missed 15 games after he was hurt late in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on March 6. He practiced fully with the Knicks on Friday for the first time since the injury and was cleared to return Sunday following a pregame workout at Madison Square Garden.
He shot just 3 for 9 from the field in 34 minutes, but his 10 points in the second half included a big 3-pointer with 1:44 left after the Suns had pulled within seven points.
“I think usually what happens when a guy comes back, he sort of has to get a feel for the game again,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “And then usually there's a play or two where he’ll be tested a little bit and then once he realizes he’s good, he takes off, and I thought the whole second half there was a different gear for him.”
Not as much as Brunson would have liked. He said he always expects to find a rhythm no matter what, and was asked if he did at any point Sunday.
“No, I didn’t find a rhythm at all, actually,” he said. “Hopefully next game I do.”
But Brunson also conceded there was more to playing again than just being comfortable with how his body felt after what he said was the longest injury absence of his career.
“Everyone always talks about the physical part, about how you’re feeling or whatever, but mentally it’s just trusting it,” Brunson said. “Trusting your movements, trusting the way you play and everything, and not second-guessing yourself.”
Backup point guard Deuce McBride also returned from his eight-game absence with a groin injury, scoring eight points and putting the Knicks in good health heading into the final week of the regular season.
They went 9-6 without Brunson, their captain, to remain in third place in the Eastern Conference. Their victory Sunday gave them a second straight 50-win season, the first time the Knicks have done that since four straight seasons from 1991-92 through 1994-95.
They will face Boston and Cleveland, the two teams above them in the East standings, in the final week of the regular season, along with the Detroit Pistons, the team they could face in the first round of the playoffs.
Perhaps the time without Brunson has the Knicks ready for it.
“Obviously above .500 is great,” he said of the record during his absence, “and I think we made some strides forward.”
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Phoenix Suns' Collin Gillespie, right, steals the ball from New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, front left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson (11) reacts after his team lost possession of the ball to the Phoenix Suns during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian-American woman freed by Moscow arrived back in the United States late Thursday as part of a prisoner swap completed as the two countries aim to repair ties.
A plane carrying Ksenia Karelina landed around 11 p.m. EDT at Joint Base Andrews, where she was greeted by her fiancé. Morgan Ortagus, President Donald Trump's deputy special envoy to the Middle East, presented her with a bouquet. She was released earlier in the day in exchange for a Russian-German man who'd been jailed in the U.S. on smuggling charges.
Karelina was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. U.S. authorities have called the case “absolutely ludicrous.”
“They released the young ballerina and she is now out, and that was good. So we appreciate that,” President Donald Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Thursday. He said the release followed conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Arthur Petrov was released as part of the swap in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, according to the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia's main security and counterintelligence agency. Petrov was arrested in Cyprus in August 2023 at the request of the U.S. on charges of smuggling sensitive microelectronics to Russia and extradited to the U.S. a year later.
Karelina was among a growing number of Americans arrested in Russia in recent years as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiked over the war in Ukraine. Her release is the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges Russia and the U.S. carried out in the last three years — and the second since Trump took office and reversed Washington's policy of isolating Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe hailed “the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort.” The CIA also emphasized that “the exchange shows the importance of keeping lines of communication open with Russia, despite the deep challenges in our bilateral relationship.”
Meanwhile, Russian and U.S. diplomats met in Istanbul for a second round of talks on normalizing embassies' work, following the first such meeting in February. The State Department said the delegations “exchanged notes to finalize an understanding to ensure the stability of diplomatic banking for Russian and U.S. bilateral missions.”
It said the U.S. reiterated its concerns about the Russian ban on hiring of local staff, “the key impediment to maintaining for stable and sustainable staffing levels at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow."
Alexander Darchiyev, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, who led Moscow’s delegation in the talks, praised their “positive atmosphere” and noted the parties agreed to continue discussions to facilitate diplomats’ travel. He added that the Russian side also pushed for a quick return of its diplomatic property seized by U.S. authorities.
In February, Russia released American teacher Marc Fogel, imprisoned on drug charges, in a swap that the White House described as part of a diplomatic thaw that could advance peace negotiations. That same month, Russia released another American just days after arresting him on drug smuggling charges.
Karelina, a former ballet dancer also identified in some media as Ksenia Khavana, lived in Maryland before moving to Los Angeles. She was arrested when she returned to Russia to visit her family last year.
The FSB accused her of “proactively" collecting money for a Ukrainian organization that was supplying gear to Kyiv's forces. The First Department, a Russian rights group, said the charges stemmed from a $51.80 donation to a U.S. charity aiding Ukraine.
“I am overjoyed to hear that the love of my life, Ksenia Karelina is on her way home from wrongful detention in Russia,” Karelina’s fiancé, professional boxer Chris van Heerden, said in a statement. “She has endured a nightmare for 15 months and I cannot wait to hold her. Our dog, Boots, is also eagerly awaiting her return.”
He thanked Trump and his envoys, as well as prominent public figures who had championed her case, including Dana White, a Trump friend and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Trump also credited White, too, saying the UFC boss had called him about the case.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said on X, “President Trump and his administration continue to work around the clock to ensure Americans detained abroad are returned home to their families.”
The exchange was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The United Arab Emirates' state-run WAM news agency released photos of Karelina boarding a plane and one of her standing next to Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the U.S.
The FSB, which said Putin had pardoned Karelina before the swap, released a video showing her being escorted to a plane somewhere in Russia. The footage then featured what appeared to be the scene of exchange at the Abu Dhabi airport, with Petrov walking off a plane and shaking hands with Russian officials on the tarmac.
The video showed Petrov undergoing medical checkups on a flight to Russia. “I have no particular complaints, just a bit tired,” he said.
Another video released by the FSB later in the day showed him walking off a plane after arriving in Russia.
Petrov was accused by the U.S. Justice Department of involvement in a scheme to procure microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical components for the country's weapons industries. He was facing a 20-year prison term in the U.S.
Abu Dhabi was the scene of another high-profile prisoner swap between Russia and the United States. In December 2022, American basketball star Brittney Griner was traded for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The UAE has been a mediator in prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine, while the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai has become home to many Russians and Ukrainians who fled there after the start of Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed.
Ksenia Karelina and her fiancé, professional boxer Chris van Heerden, talk with Morgan Ortagus, deputy special presidential envoy to the Middle East, Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Ksenia Karelina arrives Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Ksenia Karelina greets her fiancé, professional boxer Chris van Heerden, as she arrives Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE – Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was exchanged for U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, speaks to the media at an opening for an exhibition of his artworks at the Mosfilm studio in Moscow, Russia, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Basketball player Brittney Griner listens to her verdict while standing in a cage in a courtroom in Khimki, outside Moscow, Russia, Aug. 4, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump greets Marc Fogel on the South Lawn at the White House, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Ksenia Karelina sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Ksenia Karelina speaks with her lawyer while standing in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo, File)
This photo released by the state-run WAM news agency shows Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the U.S., left, standing next to U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina after her release at an airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (WAM via AP)
This photo released by the state-run WAM news agency shows U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina getting on a private jet after her release at an airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (WAM via AP)
FILE - Ksenia Karelina, also known as Khavana sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Ksenia Karelina, also known as Khavana sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024.(AP Photo/File)
