Jalen Brunson had the most points in a playoff game in New York Knicks history on Sunday. Bernard King had 46 twice in the ’84 playoffs and Patrick Ewing had 45 in a 1990 playoff game.
That kind of PLAYOFF dominance has been far and few between for the New York Knicks.
Let’s be honest. New York basketball has been lying dormant for years as fans suffered through the LeBron James and Stephen Curry era and even lost defectors who just couldn’t bear to be a part of the MSG massacre anymore.
Despite the struggles, the best fan base in basketball never gave up coming to a packed Madison Square Garden and rooting for teams that were nowhere near ready to bring championship glory to New York for the first time since 1973.
When Patrick Ewing was holding it down and leading the Knicks deep into the playoffs every year, only to be beaten by the Chicago Bulls, and then by Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994, Knicks fans were ambitious, optimistic, even cocky about their team’s standing in the NBA.
Ewing is gone. Carmelo Anthony was a stopgap, but the playoff glory was minimal at best. Who knew that a 6-foot-2 guard from Villanova, who played in the shadow of Luka Doncic in Dallas, would return to the East and elevate the Knicks back to serious players in the conference.
Analysts, such as recently-retired WNBA star Candace Parker, said Brunson wasn’t a No. 1 option, so the Knicks can’t win a championship with him. Maybe she’s right. Historically, the NBA has been a big man’s game and now it’s a pure shooter’s game. Brunson is neither.
He is championship built, chiseled by the military-style training that his dad, Rick, a 10-year NBA veteran and current Knicks assistant coach, implored him to endure in order to reach this point.
Brunson may not be Luka Doncic, but he is No. 1 in the hearts of every Knicks fan, and his 47-point explosion on Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers solidified Brunson as the personification of the city he plays for. It also gave the Knicks a 3-1 lead in the seven-game series.
Jalen Brunson Making Knicks Fans Believe
After Brunson totally annihilated Joel Embiid and the Sixers in Philly, Knicks fans took to the streets in droves. There were so many orange and blue shirts in the streets of Philly that you might think you were on 34th street in Manhattan.
Knicks fans not only briefly took over Philly, but they also put a Knicks jersey over the Wilt Chamberlain statue in celebration.
Knicks Looking For Playoff Series Win For Second Year In A Row
The Knicks sit just one win away from advancing to a second-round playoff matchup for the second season in a row under Brunson.
The fans and franchise are now at a point where they can seriously start talking about adding the few necessary parts to make a real championship run in the next two to three years.
It all starts with Brunson, whose uncanny shot-making ability and relentless aggression is a perfect fit for a team built on hard-nosed defense and hustle offense. The lone offensive powerhouse is Brunson. Everyone else plays their roles to perfection.
Take it from a Knicks fan. The last five years prior to Brunson and his two other Villanova teammates Donte Divincenzo and Josh Hart arriving, the team was becoming a running joke, even in New York.
The franchise had never been at such a low point. Knicks fans were going to the Barclays to see Durant, Harden and Kyrie Irving for a brief second. That situation, as much potential as it had, was manufactured and would never be respected by New York fans the way an authentically-constructed Knicks team is.
The love affair with Brooklyn was short-lived.
Now the boys from MSG are back on top. The town is invigorated, and Brunson should be credited as the guard who saved New York basketball. There’s a pulse again in the city and only one man is responsible for that. When it’s all said and done, Brunson might surpass Walt Clyde Frazier, Patrick Ewing and the like as the most important player in New York Knicks history and the guy who saved hoops in the city.
