WASHINGTON, DC – For four quarters, the Knicks played with their food.

They allowed themselves to get into a danger zone against the tanking Wizards, the worst team in the East, and entered the season’s first overtime because the defense was a porous mess.

What should have been an easy night turned into a dogfight for the Knicks, who needed 55 points from Jalen Brunson to secure a 136-132 overtime win on Saturday.

Brunson was a double-nickel scorer, scoring 50 or more points in his third game since last season.

And the Knicks (22-10) needed all of it.

Saturday was their seventh win in a row and probably their biggest disappointment of the season.

If it had been an opponent other than the Wizards (5-24), the Knicks probably would have lost on the second night of a back-to-back game because they out-rebounded, out-hustled and looked gassed.

In other words, they were saved by Brunson.

The point guard also collected nine assists, shot 18 of 31 and almost single-handedly led a comeback in the final minute of regulation time.

With the Knicks down by five with 57 seconds left, Brunson scored a double after a change-of-direction dribble in the lane.

On the ensuing New York possession, he made a similar move and a floater that tied the score with 11.9 seconds left.

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The Wizards, who had a chance to win, ended up facing an isolation from Bilal Coulibaly against OG Anunoby. Predictably, it turned into a brick wall shot.

The Knicks secured the rebound with 0.8 seconds left, called a timeout and almost made a perfect inbounds pass under the basket to Karl-Anthony Towns, who didn’t quite control the ball and threw an off-balance shot that it managed Don’t touch the rim.

Over time.

It was also close in overtime, but the Knicks led throughout and made their free throws down the stretch.

They averted a terrible defeat, but the pit stand highlighted how big the potential toll could be down the line.

Towns logged 44 minutes with 30 points and 14 rebounds. He was Brunson’s best backup on offense. Mikal Bridges played 47 minutes. Anunoby was 42 years old.

It should have been a stroke of luck to face the Wizards, who not only had the worst record in the East but were also without their top two scorers due to injuries.

DNPs plague the NBA. In three of New York’s last five games, the opponent did not have its best two players – New Orleans (Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram), Orlando (Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner) and Washington (Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole).

But that wasn’t a problem for the Knicks, whose starters only missed a total of three games. Brunson was listed as questionable for Saturday with a sore calf but was expected to be fit.

And the Knicks were lucky he did.