What do Willis Reed and Jalen Brunson both have in common? Aside from wearing the same jersey, they're the only Knicks to score 30 or more points in game one of the NBA finals. Reed scored 37 points on 16/30 shooting against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1970 while Brunson scored 30 on 12/31 shooting against the San Antonio Spurs. But it was what Brunson did in the fourth quarter that mattered the most.
Trailing 65-51 with 6:31 remaining in the third quarter, New York went on a 25-11 run to tie the score at 76 going into the fourth. That was when Captain Clutch took control. The Brunson Burner scored 13 points on 5/9 shooting, 1/1 from three to lead the Knicks to a 105-95 win and a 1-0 lead in the series.
We've seen this movie so many times before it's almost become routine. Whenever the Knicks have needed someone to step up and lead them to victory, Brunson has always answered the bell. His fourth-quarter playoff heroics since becoming a Knick are legendary. But this postseason, it has risen to even unheard of heights. Compare the two slash lines below:
57 GP / 8.8 Pts / 49.5 FG% / 43.0 3P% / 84.6 FT% / +147
15 GP / 9.8 Pts / 59.0 FG% / 61.5 3P% / 92.6 FT% / +58
Now be honest. Which player would you rather have in the fourth quarter of a playoff game? If you said SGA, I seriously doubt your basketball acumen.
But lest we think Brunson was flying solo, he did have some help. Karl-Anthony Towns had probably his best playoff game as a Knick, The 7-0 center outplayed his 7-4 counterpart Victor Wembanyama, scoring 18 points and recording his 10th double-double of the postseason. And Josh Hart - everybody's favorite Swiss Army knife - grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, had six steals and led all players with a plus 22.
The Knicks limited the Spurs to 40 points in the second half, 19 in the fourth quarter. The win was New York's 12th in a row and improved their road record to 7-1, with all seven wins coming by double digits. Their point differential this postseason is an NBA record plus 281. To put that into perspective, the 2017 Golden State Warriors and the 2001 Lakers - generally acknowledged to be the two most dominant playoff teams of the last 50 years - are a plus 230 and 204 respectively.
We are witnessing something truly rare in sports; so rare, in fact, it's almost inconceivable, even for a fanbase that's old enough to remember the last time they saw their team win a title. For those not old enough, there's no reference point here.
The most remarkable thing about this run is how yeoman-like the Knicks have been. Not once have they gloated, pounded their chests or congratulated themselves. They refuse to look past the next game. They are singularly consumed with one thing: bringing a championship to New York. To that end, everyone is committed, from Brunson to Towns to Mikal Bridges to OG Anunoby, who had 19 points - 12 in the fourth quarter - to Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado, who had 13 and 7 points respectively. There are no small parts or insignificant contributions. Even Mitchell Robinson, who broke his right pinky finger a week ago and was listed as questionable before the game, had six valuable rebounds and forced Wemby into a costly turnover in the final minutes.
So professional have they comported themselves that as they left the court, you'd be hard-pressed to detect even a modicum of self satisfaction in the Knicks faces. Indeed, their demeanor in the postgame presser was one of a team that knows it will need to improve their level of play in game two if they want to extend their winning streak to 13. Talk about perfectionism.
Compare and contrast that to what came out of the Spurs locker room. To a man they seemed genuinely surprised they had lost the game. Many of the comments made in their postgame presser were eerily similar to the comments made by the Cavs and Sixers in their postgame pressers. There has been an astonishing lack of respect coming from the Knicks opponents over what they are doing in these playoffs. It’s almost as if they’ve bought into the false narrative that's been spread by certain people in the sports media that this team is not legit.
The reality is that this is a tale of two teams: one that is laser focused on ending a 53 year-old drought; the other seemingly satisfied with having knocked off the defending champions. Ironically, it was the Knicks who fell into that trap last year, having dethroned the Celtics in six.
The way this team is playing, I would not be at all surprised if they swept the Spurs. Not because the Spurs are a bad team, but because the Knicks are that much better. And if that happens, the sight of Jalen Brunson hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy as Finals MVP at MSG will be the ultimate karma for every self-anointed genius who questioned his bonafides.
I literally can't wait.
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