Jalen Brunson keeps focus on closing out Knicks' series with 76ers, not franchise's single-game playoff scoring record
Through the first two games of the Knicks’ first-round matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers, Jalen Brunson just looked off. Yes, he averaged 23 points in those two games, but he shot just 29.1 percent from the floor.
The Knicks won those games, but anyone who has watched them this season would tell you that the team needed to get Brunson going to come away with a series win. As he’s done all season, Brunson answered the call.
After scoring 39 points in a Game 3 loss, Brunson dropped a Knicks playoff-record 47 points on Sunday in a 97-92 win, giving New York a commanding series lead heading back to The Garden.
“Jalen’s a great player. I guess you come to expect it,” OG Anunoby said after the game. “You expect him to make every shot. Even when he was cold the first couple of games, you knew he was going to turn around just because you see him every day. He was going to turn around eventually, so just him staying aggressive and then us feeding off of him and being aggressive as well.”
Brunson surpassed Bernard King’s previous record of 46 playoff points when he knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds. For now, Brunson says the individual record doesn’t mean much to him, but he’s more proud of the way the Knicks found a way to win on a day when the team wasn’t entirely in sync.
“I’ll look back when I retire. Seriously. This is great right now, it helped us win, but it’s not going to do anything for us going forward,” Brunson said.
“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit, first and foremost. They play hard, they play so well together. Even when things look chaotic, they’re in control. It’s a credit to them and a credit to Nick [Nurse]. Somehow, we just found a way. We kept fighting, kept sticking together. We found a way. When it’s ugly and you can find a way to win like that, when we’re not playing perfect, it’s a plus for us, a plus for our confidence. But we’re not done yet. We’ve got to continue to have that humble mentality and we’ve got to find a way to win another.”
Sunday’s game featured outstanding contributions from Anunoby (18 points, 14 rebounds) and Josh Hart (17 rebounds, five offensive), but it’s clear that Brunson was the captain that guided the ship, and now, the Knicks have a chance to close the series out on Tuesday night in New York.
“You can’t say enough about what Jalen did,” said head coach Tom Thibodeau.
“We’re a team and we have a team of leaders. The way Jalen has responded to the challenge has been huge, but not just Jalen. Everyone’s embraced their role. And like I said the challenge now is for us not to feel good about ourselves, to not change, to enjoy this for the moment, but tonight start getting ready for the next one. We know the challenge that will be in front of us. We have to get the fourth win, so be ready for that.”
