When All-NBA Teams Of those announced on Wednesday, Jalen Brunson’s name was conspicuously missing. Point guard is a deep position, but Brunson has been one of the hottest scorers in the NBA this season.
on the 50th anniversary of the nightAfter Clyde Frazier played 48 minutes in Game 5 of the 1973 NBA Finals and clinched the New York Knicks’ most recent championship, Brunson’s 38 points were New York’s knight in shining armor. Playing 48 minutes is an ending move. Last May, Jimmy Butler Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 against Boston. Brunson’s fight-or-flight instinct kicked in during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. He fought and now the knicks got a chance to fly damp south beach Appearing before the firing squad for Game 6.
Jalen Brunson raised his reputation
What did Brunson’s 38 points out of 48 get him? No matter what happens, it’s been successful season after season. Brunson has elevated his status among point guards significantly since the start of the year and has made the Knicks more palatable to free agents.
Backed into a corner, Nix scratches and claws. If you had told me that Tom Thibodeau would play his starting point guard for the entire game in the elimination game, I probably would have asked why he wasn’t doing it from the beginning.
Miami still holds the high with a 3-2 lead heading to FTX-American Airlines-Kaseya Arena. The Heat staged a late comeback from 18 down, but how long can Brunson keep it up? He has played 92 minutes in his last two games and has been the primary offensive generator, scoring 70 points and adding 18 assists in an offense that relies on tough shots and unassisted jumpers.
It depends on how Brunson’s body reacts to playing Friday night on the road with a 48-hour turnaround. Harsh as it may sound, history does not remember the stars for second round season-extending games. New Yorkers are starving for NBA relevance and Brunson has given them oxygen for another day. But why won’t they tell future generations about the time Brunson went 38 for 48 to make it to Game 7?
Brunson will need help from Julius Randle and others
It can’t all happen at Brunson. Julius Randle needs a fundamental Nick playoff performance. In 14 playoff games, all as a Knick, Randle averaged only 17 points on 35 percent shooting and nine boards.
His hustle has been questioned, his leadership scoffed at, and he was an even bigger cheater George Santos In his first season after earning an extension, it could be hard to tell whether he would be constipated or angry when the Knicks were bad, but he delivered a premium performance Game 5. It wasn’t memorable, but it also wasn’t harmful to the cause. Randall isn’t the co-star that Brunson and RJ Barrett will be carrying on their shoulders, but he’s equaling this series.
Since missing Game 1, Randle has lived up to expectations in his half of the series against Miami. And his Game 2 stinker is more presented as a sample size of his nightly contributions to this series. This heat series has been his pinnacle as a Knick. But this cannot be its pinnacle.
Monday night was the rare night this season where all three lit up together. Brunson has been the tangible superstar Randle was in theory while Barrett has emerged as a productive wingman when he is hitting on all cylinders. The Knicks united for one night behind Brunson, but this is no time to rest on their laurels. Jimmy Butler is a shark on its way back to its home waters. New York will have to do everything they can to prevent Butler from pulling them down.
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