Captain Clutch refused to let the game get away.
The Knicks were down big, nearly 30 points, but he wouldn’t let go of the proverbial rope.
Jalen Brunson kept on making plays, kept on getting the Knicks closer, and ultimately leading them to within one win of their first championship in 53 years after this 107-106 Game 4 victory over the Spurs at the Garden on Wednesday.
“Really wasn’t that much to be said at that point,” Brunson said when asked his mentality when the Knicks were down big. “It was really just, we need to chip away. We need to hit singles, get on base and make plays from there.”
OG Anunoby was the hero — his tip-in of a Brunson missed 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left was the game-winner — but the Knicks aren’t in that position without Brunson.
For the first three games of the series, he was inefficient and turnover-prone.
On Wednesday, he scored 36 points, and shot 12-for-25 from the field.
Brunson played the final 34:45, and had plenty of gas left in the tank late. He scored 17 second-half points, was pivotal in the Knicks rallying from a 29-point deficit in the second half.
He also had seven assists, five rebounds and three steals.
“Jalen, he’s an MVP candidate,” coach Mike Brown said. “I say the same thing about Jalen every game: He does what an MVP is supposed to, and he did it again tonight.”
Fittingly, Brunson spent most of his postgame press conference talking about his teammates. When the Knicks win, it’s always about everyone else. He also wasn’t ready to celebrate anything yet. There is still one more win to go.
“The most important thing for me over the next 48 hours is focusing on what we have to do to win Game 5,” he said after his third 30-point performance of the finals. “There’s nothing to celebrate. It’s not over yet, not even close.”
