Jalen Brunson refused to let the Knicks lose Tuesday, almost single-handedly delivering a franchise playoff-record 22-point fourth-quarter comeback.
Two days later, the Cavaliers forced the ball out of his hands, so he adjusted. Instead of pouring in another 30-point performance, he distributed a playoff career-high 14 assists, as the Knicks took a commanding 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
“It just shows that he plays the right way,” Mikal Bridges said after the Knicks’ thorough 109-93 victory at a rocking Garden. “If you’re not going to send a double-team, I think it’s an advantage for him. If you send a double-team, he’s going to read and react and find the open guy. Ever since I’ve known him, he plays the right way.
“Kudos to him, how he works, and his understanding of the game. If you’re going to come [double-team him], he’s going to make you pay and that’s what makes him great.”
Brunson only scored two points in the first quarter and finished with 19. It equaled his second-lowest point total of the postseason. He was still impactful in creating for his teammates, getting the ball to the right man in the right spots.
“They were sending two to the ball, and I was able to find my teammates and we were knocking shots down,” Brunson said. “Just trying to create an advantage and trusting them and having them make a play.”
Added coach Mike Brown: “They’re sending double-teams at him, and he had 14 assists. He did what he’s supposed to do.”
Perhaps the best example was Josh Hart, his former Villanova teammate and close friend. Hart was benched at the end of Game 1 and struggled early in Game 2. Brunson kept finding him, and on one fast break set him up for a dunk when he could’ve gone in for a layup. It was a way to boost Hart’s confidence on his way to a team-high 26 points.
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“I’m really not trying to look for him. He just happens to be open. So I give him the ball,” Brunson joked before turning serious. “I have the utmost confidence in him, watching the things he does after practice, his routine and everything. He works hard. I know we joke around a lot, but he does work hard.”
