Jalen Brunson entered an arena that was full of New York fans on Sunday evening. A small guard – native of New Jersey – that entered the league as a 2nd round pick a few years back, has become the reformer of the Knicks’ culture. He transformed himself to a conduit carrying the dreams and hopes of one of the most historic franchises in the NBA.
The Knicks has been struggling to build a winning formula after a successful run during the 90s. Brunson had some of that aura that brought the Knicks to the upper echelon of the NBA then. Despite the fact that the franchise has not won a championship since the 1970s, its faithful fans has not turned their backs to the team.
On Sunday, the Sixers fans were not anywhere to be found in Wells Fargo Center, Jalen Brunson felt like he’s home and destroyed the 76ers dreams for a deep playoff run as the NBA Playoff series return to the MSG for Game 5.
“I love our fans,” Embiid acknowledged after the game, via the Athletic. “(I) think it’s unfortunate and I’m not calling them out, but it is disappointing. Obviously you got a lot of Knicks fans and they’re down the road and I’ve never seen it, and I’ve been here for 10 years. Yeah, it kind of pisses me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town.
With the fans serenading the team, Jalen Brunson took over after two “meh” shooting nights in the first three games. His efforts resulted in a Knicks” playoff high of 47 points along with 10 assists and several big plays down the stretch. Brunson found himself a home with his father – Rick Brunson – watching from the Knicks’ bench.
Jalen Brunson played in a familiar territory as he grew as a basketball player in Philadelphia playing for the beloved, from Philly’s sports crowd, Villanova Wildcats.
“This Philadelphia fan base, I’ve said this before, they’re very relentless, very passionate,” Brunson admitted.”
Being a Philadelphia Eagles fan, Brunson sharpened his basketball talent in the city and entered the NBA as the 33rd pick from the Dallas Mavericks. Despite his great performances in Dallas, Brunson always wanted to play for his home town and become the local hero in New York.
Jalen Brunson was spending a good deal of his time as a kid in the MSG locker room. His father Rick played seven seasons in New York having practice under Tom Thibodeau who was an assistant coach when Brunson was a Knickerbocker. At that time, no one would expect that both Jalen Brunson and Tom Thibodeau will be the leaders of the new-age gritty Knicks that appeared during the last few years.
Jalen Brunson and Tom Thibodeau team up to reprise the Knicks
Jalen Brunson joined the Knicks in 2022 and immediately made an impact for them as Tom Thibodeau, who was already the Knicks head coach starting from 2020, elected him as the engine that his team will run on. The Knicks had already started to revert their style to a more gritty, defense-first group that terrorized teams in various NBA ages.
That was exactly what the Knicks faithful needed to get behind their team. Brunson will be the cherry in a really rough cake that will get offered to every team regardless of who they are. Thibodeau did again after reforming a Bulls team in the early 2010s. The Knicks are playing without fear in defense knowing that Jalen Brunson will take over in offense.
It was the perfect fit for the both Thibodeau and Brunson as the veteran coach found the undersized guard with a big heart (like he did with Derrick Rose in Chicago) to build his gritty machine. The rest of the Knicks crew is diving for every loose ball, getting into rebounding battles, while being ready to step into raucous plays once in a while.
The Sixers seemed exhausted in the final moments of Game 4 loss as the Knicks out-hustled them. Joel Embiid could not finish a seemingly easy layup during the crucial fourth quarter, while shots were blocked left and right, with the Knicks’ players flying and diving on their opponents. On the other side, Brunson scored 24 of his career-high 47 in the second half.
Leaving with MVP chants from Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 90 minutes away from New York, but Brunson felt at home immediately after the end of the game on Sunday evening. The Knicks fans serenaded him with MVP chants in a season that he wasn’t even among the Top-5 candidates despite his incredible regular season run that brought the Knicks to No.2 seed in the East.
In the series against the Sixers, Brunson has fought for every inch in the court against much bigger defenders. Standing at 1,88 meters, the small guard is always finding a bigger play to go against. He fought against Maxey, Batum and even Embiid during the series manipulating every inch of the court to find space.
In Wells Fargo Center, Jalen Brunson and the Knicks split the games with one loss and win and they are one win way from advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second consecutive season. After becoming the engine that revs up New York, maybe Jalen Brunson could ensure the Knicks’ fans to generate even more noise in the postseason.
As of now, the Knicks could advance to the semifinals meeting the Indiana Pacers as Haliburton and co. are 3-1 over the injured Bucks. Perhaps, it’s time for the Knicks to relive some 90s magic that led them to two NBA Finals appearances during that time. The last time the Knicks got out of the East was back in the 1998-99 season. It remains to be seen if they can relive history.
