Jalen Brunson delivered a moment that will live forever in Knicks‘ history when he sank a three-pointer in the final seconds Thursday night to close out their series with Detroit, writes Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post. With Game 6 tied on New York’s final possession, Brunson drove hard to the left, then crossed over to lose Pistons defender Ausar Thompson (Twitter video link from the NBA). By the time Thompson recovered, Brunson had already released the straightaway three that decided the series.
“I found a way to create separation,” said Brunson, who capped off a 40-point night. “I shot a little earlier than I wanted to but I had to shoot it, and I got the ball to go in.”
As Vaccaro points out, Brunson’s heroics weren’t limited to the final shot. After the Knicks let a 12-point fourth quarter lead slip away and faced a seven-point deficit with two and a half minutes remaining, Brunson took over the offense to prevent Detroit from forcing a Game 7. First came a three-point play on a six-foot floater, followed by a reverse layup under the basket. On the next possession, the Pistons surrounded him on a drive to the hoop, allowing Mikal Bridges to easily tip in the miss.
“What can you say?” coach Tom Thibodeau said after the dramatic victory. “He’s timely, he’s at his best when his best is needed. That’s what makes him special.”
There’s more on the Knicks:
- Brunson’s shot altered the team’s future to a degree that’s impossible to measure, states James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. If New York had lost the series, Edwards believes there definitely would have been conversations about replacing Thibodeau, and owner James Dolan would have considered front office moves as well after major offseason deals to acquire Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns put the franchise into luxury tax territory.
- Bridges delivered his best game of the playoffs with 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting, per Steve Popper of Newsday. Popper notes that the Knicks traded for Bridges and OG Anunoby to match up with Boston wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and they’ll get that chance in the second round. “Yeah, they’re a hell of players and got moves for days and physical,” Bridges said of the Celtics duo. “Yeah, definitely a challenge, but it’s never one-on-one. You got four guys behind you, your teammates, so it’s just team defense and just helping each other out.”
- The Knicks will have to recover quickly from a physically and mentally draining series to have any chance against Boston, observes Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Towns has some experience in facing a defending champion in the playoffs as his Minnesota team ousted Denver in seven games last spring. “With that experience, we learned a lot,” Towns said. “You gotta be ready for Game 9, you gotta be ready to have that energy and emotional capacity.”