Knicks can't keep relying on Jalen Brunson to bail them out, especially now that they're down 2-0 to Pacers
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacts after his missed shot in the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden on Friday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
The Knicks can’t keep doing this.
They can’t keep waiting for Jalen Brunson to come in and rescue them. They can’t think that just because they have the best player in the NBA in crunch time, he is going to figure out a way to make everything OK.
Because everything is not OK.
The Knicks are in trouble. Big trouble. They are headed to Indianapolis down 0-2 in the Eastern Conference finals. And if they keep playing like this, one of their most exciting seasons in 25 years could be over by the middle of next week.
The Knicks have lost two games that have come down to the final plays, and one of the biggest reasons why is they are too dependent on the scoring of one player while playing against a team that has multiple scoring options.
Though Friday night’s 114-109 loss was not as dramatic as the collapse the Knicks suffered in Game 1 of the series, when they blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead in a 138-135 overtime loss, in many ways it was more disappointing.
The Knicks team that the city had fallen in love with during this playoff run has shown swagger and attitude down the home stretch. It’s one that has been able to bounce back from painful losses, one that has been able to claw back from huge deficits by pulling it all together at the end.
Against the Pacers, the Knicks have come out flat, hung around in fairly close games and then looked exhausted and mistake-prone at the end when they need to be their sharpest. Are the Knicks just getting worn down mentally at the end of the games by a team with a rotation that goes 11 deep?
“We’re in the conference finals now. Nothing else matters,” Jalen Brunson said. “We have a game every other day. We are playing in a very high-stakes moment, so the mental and the focus and everything had to be there. There is no question about it.”
The Knicks finished the third quarter tied at 81, but while Brunson was on the bench for his regular rest, Indiana went on an 11-2 run. You could almost hear a sigh of relief when Tom Thibodeau signaled for Brunson and OG Anunoby to re-enter the game with 9:00 left and the Pacers leading 94-85.
Brunson scored 10 of his 36 points in the final quarter, and with the Knicks trailing 110-107, he got the ball with 35 seconds left. The Knicks could have tried to score quickly twice; instead, Brunson said he was looking for the three-pointer. When that didn’t materialize, he found Josh Hart for a layup that cut the Pacers’ lead to 110-109 with 14.9 seconds left.
After Aaron Nesmith was fouled and hit both free throws, Brunson missed a long three with 8.6 seconds left. After Myles Turner was fouled and hit both free throws, Brunson missed a meaningless three at the buzzer.
Brunson is the reason the Knicks are in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years. Heading into Game 2, his average of 29.9 points in 13 playoff games this postseason was the most of anyone still playing. That even edges out recently crowned NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging 29.8 points in 13 games for Oklahoma City.
Brunson (11 assists) shot 13-for-27 in Game 2, going 5-for-12 from three-point range.
Brunson has been a human highlight reel this postseason, coming up big when his team needs him most. In leading the Knicks to series wins over Detroit and Boston, he posted a staggering 46.1 points per 36 minutes in so-called “clutch” scenarios, defined as games with a margin of five points or fewer in the final five minutes of regulation or overtime.
Despite making some mistakes in the final minutes of Game 1, including committing three turnovers in the final 5:30, Brunson was pretty much having his way with the Pacers’ defense. The Pacers’ guards aren’t as good defensively as the ones Brunson faced in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and he exploited that by scoring 43 points and shooting 15-for-25 in Game 1.
Including the seven games the Knicks played against the Pacers in last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals, he has played nine postseason games against Indiana and has scored at least 40 in three of them.
Indiana coach Rick Carlisle knows Brunson well, having coached him early in his career when both were in Dallas.
Carlisle has seen over and over how Brunson is motivated by doubters, beginning when the Mavericks selected him in the second round of the draft.
“Each year he just raised the bar of what he’s been doing,” Carlisle said before Game 2. “He’s the kind of guy that covets the opportunity to lead. He wants the responsibility of winning and losing. He’s been extremely durable. I know he missed some time this year, but he played hurt when he was with us. And you always knew you were going to get his best possible effort and whatever he could put out there.”
Brunson’s best effort alone hasn’t been enough in these two losses. He’s looked weary at the end, tired of carrying the load. Maybe too tired to pull off that last-minute magic we’ve all become addicted to.
If the Knicks are to have any chance of extending this thing, he’s going to need some help.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
