New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson should never have to buy a drink in the Big Apple again. Perhaps the best NBA free agent signing outside of LeBron James or Kevin Durant of the past two decades, Brunson has changed the narrative surrounding this long downtrodden organization.
That came out in droves as the Knicks closed out their first-round NBA Playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road Wednesday evening.
Already up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, New York started out strong by taking a seven-point lead into the second quarter. Despite forward Julius Randle suffering an aggravation of his ankle injury at the end of the first half, New York continued to maintain a decent lead throughout.
It was up a dozen after three with Jalen Brunson (21 points on 8-of-18 pacing things). Meanwhile, guard R.J. Barrett completed the first 36 minutes by hitting on 7-of-8 shots. Mitchell Robinson had 18 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass. He became the first Knicks player with double-digit offensive rebounds in a playoff game since Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing back in 1994.
Cleveland made a couple runs in the fourth quarter to pull the game closer, but the Knicks were more than up to the task. They continued to quiet fans inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
When Josh Hart connected with Mitchell Robinson on an alley-oop to put the Knicks up 12 with just over six minutes remaining, the New York Knicks could start feeling it.
That was pretty much all she wrote as the Knicks won going away by the score of 106-95 to earn their first series win in the NBA Playoffs since taking out the Boston Celtics back in 2013.
Jalen Brunson as a difference maker for the New York Knicks
A lot was made this past summer of the Dallas Mavericks being unwilling to match the four-year, $104 million contract Brunson ultimately signed with the Knicks.
Considered the top free agent on the market, Brunson’s ascension to star status didn’t come overnight. He was barely playable in Dallas’ first-round playoff series loss to the Los Angeles Clippers back in 2021.
But something clicked during the 2021-22 season, his final in Big D. Brunson averaged a career-high 16.3 points to go with 3.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists on 50% shooting. Even then, the Mavs didn’t view him as a franchise cornerstone.
As Brunson was starring for the New York Knicks this past regular season, Dallas found itself mired in major disorder on the court. That was magnified after the team acquired star guard Kyrie Irving in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets back in February.
The Mavs ended up finishing this past regular season with a 38-44 record while receiving a hefty fine by the NBA for “tanking.” As for Brunson, he was an absolute dynamo in the Big Apple.
- Jalen Bruson stats (2022-23): 24.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 6.2 APG, 49% shooting
Being able to land Brunson on a less-than-max contract was an absolute boon for the Knicks. Seeing how he fit in to their core under head coach Tom Thibodeau took that to a new level. Heading into Wednesday’s series-clinching win, Brunson was averaging north of 24 points on 46% shooting thus far in the playoffs. His fit has been more than ideal in New York.
“I think being around him for a long time, knowing the trust that my dad has in him, I’ve been around it. I’ve been around his philosophies for a long time, so I guess I’m used to it. I’ve seen it from afar — he’s going to push me no matter if I have 48 [points] or four. “
Jalen Brunson on relationship with Tom Thibodeau, via ESPN.com
Brunson’s dad, Rick, played in the NBA from 1997-2006. His career crossed paths with Thibs during their time together with the New York Knicks in the late 1990s. At that point, New York’s current head coach was an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy.
Not only did this play a role in Brunson’s decision-making process during free agency last summer, said relationship led to a seamless transition to being coached by an often-difficult Tom Thibodeau.
While Brunson was fitting in like a glove in New York, others continued to step up for the team. The X-point performance we saw from Barrett in Wednesday’s series-clinching win over Cleveland was a prime example of this.
NBA Sixth Man of the Year finalist Immanuel Quickley’s status as a core member of the Knicks’ rotation after falling out of favor under Thibs earlier in his career is yet another example of this.
New York now heads to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the first time since back in 2013 when Thibodeau was coaching the Chicago Bulls and Brunson joined him in Illinois as a high school basketball ball player.
Whether that means advancing to the conference finals over either the Milwaukee Bucks or Miami Heat remains to be seen. But Brunson’s status as one of the best NBA free agent signings of the modern era has NBA basketball relevant in the Mecca of the hoop world for the first time in a decade.
Let that sink in.
Join the New York Knicks on their playoff quest – click here for all the latest news and features!